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Twelve-year-old Violet Gustafson’s TV director father has caused a huge upheaval: he’s left his family in Vancouver to start afresh with his new, blonde trophy wife in LA. To Violet, it seems like he’s traded in his old life for a new and improved one – complete with new and improved children. When her mother takes up with the unfortunately named Dudley Wiener after a series of disastrous relationships, Violet – with the help of her best friend Phoebe – decides to take control. After all, her mother’s dating choices directly affect her and her sister Rosie, too. If her mom can’t pick a decent man herself, Violet will help her to snag the most perfect one of all: George Clooney. In turns brazen, infuriating, and hysterical, Violet’s antics will delight readers, who will root for her, even when she’s at her worst. In this poignant, funny new novel, author Susin Nielsen explores the emotional fallout of divorce – and creates a true original in Violet, whose outrageous yet always heartfelt ploys to set things right will resonate with readers for years to come.
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REVIEWS
“Nielsen has created a narrator as sassy and candid as this memorable novel’s title … Especially affecting are Violet’s struggles to accept her father’s new family and her devotion to both her mother and Rosie. A bonus: Clooney makes a cameo.”
-Publisher’s Weekly – Starred Review
“Nielsen has created an amusing and attractive character in Violet, whose imagination and spunk will endear her to readers … You may want to shake some sense into her; you may want to hug her. You won’t be able to ignore her! Nielsen has created a story that is both funny and touching and well worth the read. Highly recommended.”
-CM Magazine
“Laugh-out-loud humor deftly mixes with insight into a troubled girl’s pain over her parents’ divorce, keeping readers involved on every page … This comic novel scores.”
-Kirkus Reviews
“”Violet is a complex, appealing character whose intimate, lively first-person narrative, both droll and heartfelt, discusses classmate conflicts and crushes as well as her insecurities and her gradual acceptance of what she can and cannot control … (a) very engaging read.”
-Booklist
“There are few wasted words in this young-adult novel and there’s a lot of cleverness and fun … Some delectable secondary characters (and) a couple of lovely plot twists … Buy it.”
-National Post
AWARDS
- 2011 International White Raven Selection
- Canadian Library Association 2011 Honour Book
- Winner, VOYA’s Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers
- Gold Medal Winner, ForeWord Book of the Year Award
- Winner, 2011 Saskatchewan Young Readers’ Choice Award (Snow Willow)
- Winner, 2012 Rocky Mountain Book Award
- Winner, 2012 Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award
- Nominee, 2012 Red Maple Award
- 2011 BC Book Prize Nominee
- 2011 Chocolate Lily Nominee
- An Ontario Library Association’s “Best Bet” for 2010