My Sister, My Love: The Intimate Story of Skyler Rampike

Reader reviewed by Dede

This is a story told by Skyler Rampike (as an adult) about his sister's death and how he existed both before and after.  His father, Bix, is not a very sympathetic character.  He is a workaholic and both he and his wife, Betsey, hunger for money to be the best, get the best, etc.  Bix is a compulsive cheater and hardly ever home, always away on "work assignments."  Betsey is a bit of a zealot about alot of things - religion, life, getting invited by the richest people, etc.  I would call her mentally unstable and very self centered.  Skyler is the oldest and the apple of his mom's eye.  He's not like other kids, he's a bit shy and unsure of himself and when his mom has a baby girl, both him and his mom seem to rebel against her.  Edna Louise is the girls name.  His mom will "sneak out" of the house with him (leaving baby with nanny) and complain about how the baby cries too much, etc.  Betsey used to skate when she was younger and you can almost feel the resentment and her resignment to her new life, even as she tries to become the best at her new life.  When she takes Skyler to try to teach him to skate, it is a disaster because Skyler is not coordinated and not good at any kinds of sports.  Skyler's dad is a sports fan, and in an innocent conversation Skyler lies and says he wants to be a gymnast.  When his father starts taking him to gymnast class, Skyler regrets the lie but tries and ends up breaking his leg, which causes a limp for the rest of his life.  When little Edna Louise declares, years later, that she wants to be a ice skater after watching them on tv, her mother says no, due to the disaster with Skyler.  She relents and Edna turns out to be a natural on ice, and this will drastically change their lives.  Betsey turns her daughter into a star on the ice, even changing her name legally to Bliss while off the ice Betsey is very demanding and emotionally absent from her childrens lives.  When Bliss is murdered, the family is thrown into chaos, and Skyler, being 10 years old, has a haunting sense of guilt.  When a convicted sex-offender confesses to the crime it seems that part of the nightmare is over, but for Skyler it is just beginning. 
The resemblance, both in names and stories, to the JonBenet Ramsey case is very striking.  Skyler also writes little footnotes in some of the pages.  Some of these footnotes are funny, some are scary, some are smart-alecky, but they do add a certain good element to the book.   Skyler is not always completely relatable, but his dialogue is very honest and in such a way you feel bad for him.  When he goes home after years away from his estranged mother to reunite, he learns the truth about what happened to his sister so many years ago.  Even though I knew who did it after I read the ransom note, there was still parts of the book dedicated to throwing me off and wondering if I had it right.  The writing in this book is very engaging and I would recommend it.