The voice that comes alive in Viola’s character is one that spoke to the 14 year old me.  I was carried back into a time  of awkward moments of adolescence, dances you remember forever, and breathtaking first kisses…  ~ Sheila

Synopsis

I’m marooned.

Abandoned.

Left to rot in boarding school . . .

Viola doesn’t want to go to boarding school, but somehow she ends up at an all-girls school in South Bend, Indiana, far, far away from her home in Brooklyn, New York. Now Viola is stuck for a whole year in the sherbet-colored sweater capital of the world.

Ick.

There’s no way Viola’s going to survive the year—especially since she has to replace her best friend Andrew with three new roommates who, disturbingly, actually seem to like it there. She resorts to viewing the world (and hiding) behind the lens of her video camera.

Boarding school, though, and her roommates and even the Midwest are nothing like she thought they would be, and soon Viola realizes she may be in for the most incredible year of her life.

But first she has to put the camera down and let the world in.

My Thoughts:

OMG!  LOL!  Really and truly I adored this book!  I enjoyed this book from the first sentence, “YOU WOULD NOT WANT TO BE ME.”  I loved the dramatic voice of our fourteen year old Viola.  I remember those days when the world was going to end because things did not go the way you wanted.  Life was so…. intense.  So here I am deeply engrossed in a book all about Viola and her wonderful BFFAA (Best Friend Forever And Always) Andrew, her three new roommates in boarding school who seen to have already pegged her from hour one, and the possibility of a new relationship with a boy who’s love is calculated by the number of IM’s, and texts, four kisses, one hand holding, one date, one cookie and one book.

Ahhhh… first love. ♥

Tie all that in a hip and happening Grandma (Grand) who has a back ground in acting, two adoring but at this time anyway distant parents… and you have the making of one great read.

I have to thank Jennifer at BookClubGirl who introduced me to this book and then sent me a copy to read and be part of the live chat with the author Adriana Trigiani on Wednesday of this past week.  I didn’t get to say a lot during the live chat as I had to run Chance to Youth Group in the middle of it but it was fun to participate and see the conversation roll out.

A great YA…. I applaud Adriana Trigiani for this youthful book and I plan on looking into more of what she has written.

ADRIANA TRIGIANI is beloved by millions of readers around the world for her hilarious and heartwarming novels. Adriana was raised in a small coal mining town in southwest Virginia in a big Italian family. She chose her hometown for the setting and title of her debut novel, the critically acclaimed and bestselling Big Stone Gap, followed by the sequels Big Cherry Holler, Milk Glass Moon, and the fall 2006 release Home to Big Stone Gap. Lucia, Lucia, The Queen of the Big Time, Rococo and Very Valentine were all instant New York Times bestsellers. Adriana also teamed up with her family for Cooking With My Sisters, which was co-authored by her sister Mary, with contributions from their sisters and mom; the cookbook-memoir features recipes and stories dating back a hundred years from both sides of their Italian-American family. Adriana’s novels have been translated and sold in over 30 countries around the world.

You can listen to the Live Chat here