“We knew, finally, that the girls were really women in disguise, that they understood love and even death, and that our job was merely to create the noise that seemed to fascinate them.” 

This is a gorgeously written, poignant study of the perils of adolescence. Although the story is told from the point of view of the neighbourhood boys, this effectively adds to the mysterious and bleak atmosphere of the Lisbon sisters' lives. Even though I knew from the start that all the sisters would die, I couldn't help but shout to the boys, "Call them! Help them! Stop lusting over the girls and actually get to know them!" And of course, I'll say it, the suicides were the parents' fault.