Pearl had a good life until childbirth unexpectedly stole her mother from her. The only trace left of her is a little baby, whom the girl dubs the rat, since that is what she looked like as a newborn.

Pearl struggles to deal with the loss of her mother, who appears at the oddest times to counsel her daughter. Overwhelmed by her sister, the girl avoids the baby. Relations with her dad and best friend, Molly, are strained. Everyone is attempting to handle their life circumstances and also help each other. Add to this... Finn, her neighbor's grandson, who seems to take an interest in her. 

Drinking, trouble with school and feelings of apathy plague Pearl. Around this time, she begins to pine for her birth father, James, who turns out to be entrenched in a life of his own. 

The Year of the Rat by Clare Furniss, 2014

This is the best teen book I have read in awhile due to its originality and heartbreakingly real grief. I love the roses on the front cover and inside pages.

Clare Furniss's web site

Books about grief