Tuesday, January 14, 2014

THE QUOTE, THE REVIEW, THE LIST for January 14, 2013

A BOOKISH QUOTE

Women want love to be a novel, men a short story.
-Daphne du Maurier



THE REVIEW

THE BLOSSOMING UNIVERSE OF VIOLET DIAMOND
by Brenda Woods
Age Range: 8 - 12

KIRKUS REVIEW

Violet’s a bright, engaging biracial preteen, resigned to a “predictable summer of boring nothing” in small-town Washington; happily, for her and for readers, she couldn’t be more wrong.

Violet, 11, appreciates her loving family—busy neonatologist mom; sister, Daisy, 17; mom’s lively, ex-hippie parents—she’s just tired of explaining she belongs. She wouldn’t have to if her dad, an African-American doctor, hadn’t died in a car accident before her birth. In mostly white Moon Lake, Violet’s a rarity; her one black friend attends a different school. Adopting a kitten is fun, but lightening her hair? Big mistake. (It was supposed to look “sun-kissed,” like Daisy’s—not orange.) Although Roxanne, her dad’s mother, a famous artist, has refused contact (she has her reasons), Violet engineers a meeting at a Seattle gallery, persuading her mom to take her. Rebuffed at first, Violet persists until Roxanne invites her for a visit, and what was frozen begins to thaw. Both families are stable, intelligent and well-intentioned, but forgiveness and trust require contact; healing can’t happen at a distance. Violet’s no tragic mulatto—she’d survive estrangement, but in reconnecting with her dad’s family and cultural roots, she’ll thrive, fulfill her vast potential and, in doing so, enrich both families’ lives across the racial divide.

Infused with humor, hope and cleareyed compassion—a fresh take on an old paradigm. (Fiction. 8-12)


Pub Date:Jan. 9th, 2014
ISBN:978-0-399-25714-8
Page count:240pp
Publisher:Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online:Oct. 23rd, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue:Nov. 15th, 2013


THE LIST

9 Teen Novels As Good As They Are Popular

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