From Barnes & Noble
When "one of the reigning queens of women's fiction" (USA Today) writes a young adult novel, the whole world should take notice. Author Adriana Trigiani has already won herself a worldwide reputation with her soulful Very Valentine and Big Stone Gap excursions, now she ventures into the coming-of-age experiences of Viola, a nice Brooklyn girl who just wants to survive boarding school in the Midwest. Feisty teen fiction.
Booklist
"Best-selling adult author Trigiani nicely captures boarding-school bonding, adolescent female insecurities, and current teen trends. Fun, breezy, and full of subtle life lessons, this is a good follow-up or prequel to the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series."
Richie's Picks
"A cold, snowy winter, a ghost mystery, kisses, cookies, roommates, a video diary, a film competition, and Viola’s crack-me-up-every time observations all make this an endearing coming of age story…exceptionally fun."
Publishers Weekly
Trigiani (Big Stone Gap) takes the familiar boarding school milieu and gives it some welcome nuance and a refreshingly grounded feel in her debut YA work, first in a proposed series. To her horror, 14-year-old aspiring filmmaker Viola Chesterton is forced to leave her family, her funky Brooklyn neighborhood and her “Best Friend Forever And Always” Andrew to spend her freshman year at Prefect Academy for Young Women in South Bend, Ind. But Viola soon finds much to like in her new roommates and rural campus, chronicling her experiences in a video diary. While the story of Viola’s blossoming may seem slow to readers used to students who are training to be spies or developing crushes on vampires, Trigiani offers a realistic look at the ever-shifting bonds of friendship and the adjustment to one’s first taste of life away from home. Viola’s reflections on the sisterhood of girlfriends and the importance of girls standing up for themselves are resonant but never cheerleaderish. Trigiani uses Viola’s droll humor and a colorful supporting cast to great effect, ensuring that readers will want to know what happens to them in future volumes. Ages 12–up. (Sept.)
VOYA
- Ed Goldberg
Fourteen-year-old Viola is not in Brooklyn anymore. She is involuntarily in South Bend, Indiana, at the Prefect Academy for Young Women, established in 1890, for the next year, while her parents film a documentary in Afghanistan. Armed with her video camera, she intends to document her misery. She begins by filming the fields around school, voice over to follow. Viola misses her BFFAA (And Always). She is prepared to hate her roommates, but they actually seem nice. Gradually Marisol, Suzanne, and Romy begin to fill the roles of friends and family, supporting each other. Viewing her initial film later that first day, Viola notices a woman dressed in a 1920s-style red costume walking across the far end of the field. She is positive that this woman was not present during the filming. During first semester, Viola gets volunteered for the Founder's Day play, meets a boy, and learns about a film contest. All seems right with the world. Trigiani's first foray in young adult literature is a predictable, tame, and enjoyable book about middle school girls maturing (almost Sarah Dessen for middle school). Viola and her roommates cope with being away from home. Each has some trial to overcome. The characters are nice, the dialogue and action are interesting, and the ending is apparent. The denouement regarding the red-costumed woman is acceptable but not outstanding. But that is okay. Trigiani deftly shows that teenage girls can be independent, have positive self images, and be happy. It is a far better novel than The Clique. Reviewer: Ed Goldberg
Children's Literature
- Laura J. Brown
Viola lives in Brooklyn, New York. She loves her hometown and everything about it. When she finds out her parents are going to send her to a boarding school in Indiana (while they are out of the country working) she feels as if she has been marooned, abandoned, and left to rot in the middle of nowhere. She also hates to leave behind her best friend, Andrew. One thing she refuses to leave behind is her video camera and editing equipment. She loves making movies and decides that this is one thing in her life that will not change. The problem is that her video camera and her negative attitude get her in hot water with her three new roommates, who are actually glad to be at the boarding school. Viola's mom, who attended the same school when she was a teenager and loved it, tells her to hang in there that things will get better. Her dad says the same thing. A good friend back in Brooklyn advises Viola to change her attitude and give the school, her new roommates, and herself a second chance. Viola decides to listen to her friend; she makes peace with her roommates, who have their own words of advice, and discovers something that she never thought possible. There is life outside of Brooklyn. It is not perfect, but it is not horrible either. This is the story of four friends who have an incredible year together, and learn more about what life is really about. Reviewer: Laura J. Brown
School Library Journal
Gr 7–9—Viola's parents dumped her in the middle of nowhere. Well maybe "nowhere" isn't exactly true and perhaps "dumped" is too strong a word. As documentary filmmakers, her parents follow their stories. While they are filming in Afghanistan, they send their daughter to Prefect Academy for Young Women in South Bend, IN. Away from her home and friends in Brooklyn, Viola has resolved to be miserable. Her only comfort is in her daily IM conversations with her BFF, Andrew, and her personal video diary, "The Viola Reels." Then she meets her roommates, who are too great to be indifferent toward. Her constant video-camera-toting lands her on committees for school functions. To top it all off she meets a boy who shares her interest at a school dance. Suddenly, the ninth grader is happy, busy, and feeling at home. She even enters a film competition. Through the help and support of her friends and family, it could just be the short film of her dreams, maybe even good enough to win the competition. Viola in Reel Life is a sweet, character-driven story. Viola is very real, as are her feelings, hopes, desires, and dreams. There is not a lot of action, but the relationships portrayed in the book make it well worth reading.—Melyssa Malinowski, Kenwood High School, Baltimore, MD
Kirkus Reviews
Popular adult author Trigiani's (Very Valentine, 2009, etc.) first young adult novel is a quick read. Fourteen-year-old Brooklyn native Viola Chesterton is not happy attending Prefect Academy (PA), an all-girls boarding school in South Bend, Ind., while her filmmaking parents are in Afghanistan for a year making a documentary. At first reluctant to embrace campus life, Viola eventually bonds with her three roommates and becomes the most popular girl on campus after-OMG-securing a hot boyfriend. She also single-handedly saves the Founders Day play with her superior knowledge of filmmaking and wins second place for her amateur film. Throughout the year, the budding filmmaker records her experiences at PA in her private video diary, The Viola Reels; her first-person narration is, like, punctuated by IM transcripts. Though the characters are flat and stereotypical, the dialogue unoriginal, the first-person narration at times self-consciously shallow and the plot predictable, teens looking for something light with a touch of romance may find something here. Here's hoping, though, that successors in the series treat its audience with a bit more respect. (Fiction. YA)
Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)
“Sarah Dessen for middle school…Trigiani deftly shows that teenage girls can be independent, have positive self-images, and be happy.”
