SOLVED. YA Mystery. Twin sister missing since childhood is found as a teenager, gets to know her family again, mistaken identity. [s]

[Rebecca]

Description on the back called it something like an exploration of what it means to be family. YA realistic fiction, set in the U.S. I think it was relatively new in 2018- I found it in my high school's library.
So MC's twin sister (Ava?) disappeared when they were kids, something like 8yo, on Halloween. I think she was wearing a fairy costume? Sister insisted they play hide and seek. MC was the shy one and didn't want to, but sister ran off to hide anyway. MC couldn't find her and got scared, went to their parents in tears, and the police got involved and everything but that was it, they never found her.
That was a defining event for the whole family. Book really describes the impact on their relationships with each other. MC's father started a website dedicated to looking for Sister, gave interviews, tried to make sure her story didn't fade from media attention, etc. Made sure they
could never forget or focus on anything else. Strained relationship between MC and mother. And the disappearance shaped MC's personality growing up- sister had always been the bold and outgoing one; who was MC without her?
Fast forward to high school age. A teenage girl who'd escaped from captivity was found. She'd been kidnapped as a child and kept inside a house for years. They thought she was MC's sister: she was blond like Sister, the right age, was wearing the same special bracelet MC gave to Sister back in the day. She barely remembered life before kidnapping and didn't know her real name- the man keeping her captive called her Diamond. I think it was a reference to a song or something on TV.
Cue shock and excitement, family rushing to meet her at the hospital. She didn't remember enough to recognize them or not, but it felt right. They were sure she was Sister. They took her home with them. Dad posts the great news on the website and they become the focus of a lot of outside attention for a while. I know MC misses a lot of school at the beginning.
Then came the messy awkward part: dealing with the trauma of Sister's disappearance and how to become a family again. The awkwardness of the twins' relationship after so long apart. All the ways Sister was different from how they'd always imagined/expected her to be.
Mentions that during Sister's captivity, she only saw the outside world through the TV.
At some point, MC and an older male friend figure out where Sister was being kept captive and by whom. They drive by the house. I don't remember if that became a huge focus, if they proved it and got him arrested. I don't think it ever escalated to the level of direct threats against them.
Spoilers for the ending below:



Near the end, MC gets home to see Sister being taken away in a car by Social Services. Completely unexpected. She's horrified and upset, but her parents aren't reacting right. "Where are they taking (Sister's name- Ava?)" and Mother tells her, "that's not (Ava)."
It turns out the police had just found Sister's body. On that Halloween years ago, she'd hidden inside a refrigerator (outside on some semi-abandoned property, something like a junk yard), and then couldn't get out and suffocated. Her body was still 8 years old, still wearing that costume.
The girl they took in was just some kidnapped girl. It was coincidence that she somewhat looked like them, that she'd held onto the same mass-produced bracelet MC had bought for Sister years ago.
MC's family was reeling. Not only had they not actually reunited with Sister, but Sister had never grown up at all, hadn't lived a single day without them. Dad took down all the new updates on the website so the only post was what you'd find on a tombstone: the dates of Sister's birth and death, and a picture of the twins as little girls wearing the matching costumes.
They found out Not-sister's real name and background. She went to a group home or something, but a woman there was looking out for her- she was doing okay. Right at the end of the book, MC visited to confront her about the deception. She told MC she hadn't been pretending- she really didn't remember if it was true or not, but she wanted to be. She wanted to believe they were her family, just like they all wanted to believe they had Sister back.
Ends on that note. Some reflection by MC about what it all means, but no clear resolution. I think the book ends with MC leaving (graduation or something) and trying to move on with her life alone.

[bookel]

Only read the first four lines of your query so hope this is it!

The second life of Ava Rivers
https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=kw%...
The Second Life of Ava Rivers
Author: Faith Gardner
Publisher: [New York] : Razorbill, [2018]
Edition/Format: Print book : Fiction : Secondary (senior high) school : EnglishView all editions and formats
Summary:
Eighteen-year-old Vera, eager to start college and escape the celebrity her family has endured since her twin's disappearance twelve years earlier, finds her world turned upside-down again when Ava returns.
Subjects
Missing children -- Juvenile fiction.
Sisters -- Juvenile fiction.
Twins -- Juvenile fiction.
View all subjects
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[Rebecca]

Yes, that's it! Thanks so much!