Read the beginning of "Sleep" from Sleep in Me byJon Pineda:

"A week later I would start seventh grade at Great Bridge Junior High. The building had actually been the high school building from the year before. The new one was down the road on Hanbury, the one Rica would have graduated from. As I walked the hallways of my new school, I couldn’t help but wonder which of these lockers had belonged to my sisters. I would have given anything to know. In which shadowy corner had each of them kissed their boyfriends, whispered plans to skip, or just meet up with friends after school.

The other kids all knew each other, had all gone to school together at the feeder school Southeastern Elementary. I was the new kid. But it was worse; whenever I started class, the teacher would say my name and pause and then ask, Isn’t your sister one of the girls who — ? I would nod before they could finish, before they would suddenly express concern with their eyes. I would look away and then back at them to see if they had moved on, and if they were still studying my face, I would smile weakly, shrug until they would become aware they were staring.

The other kids in class were mostly oblivious, though a few who had older siblings would tell me, Yeah, my sister knew your sister or Yeah, my brother knew her. That was supposed to mean that we were linked together somehow, in the way small towns worked hard to foster a social hierarchy, our destinies predetermined by those in our family who had come before us. My problem within this fate was that a story of tragedy preceded me wherever I went.

If I met someone’s parents, the mothers would inevitably tilt their heads to the side, almost appearing to pout before they would ask in a quiet voice, How is she? I would pause, because at first, I would think they meant my mother, or even my sister Tinah. I wouldn’t think they were talking about Rica, who had only recently come out of the coma. What could I say other than She’s fine, which was more to keep them from going further in their questioning? No one really wanted to know, I was convinced.

I suppose there were a few, but even then, out of consideration, I didn’t want to pass along the burden that came with knowing. So instead of saying, She’s not my sister anymore, I would say, She’s good. I wouldn’t say, My sister died at the scene of the accident. I wouldn’t say, Her body was replaced with this body that doesn’t function. I would say, I think she’s doing fine, or We’re hoping for the best. Just once I would love to say nothing and impersonate Rica in that moment."

To read a longer excerpt or to purchase Sleep in Me, visit http://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/product/Sleep-in-Me,674628.aspx.