I really liked Vivian’s previous book, A LITTLE FRIENDLY ADVICE and I think this one’s even better. 16 year old Emily’s from a well-off South Jersey family and her life is pretty much the same thing every day: school, friends, family. Ever since her best friend got a boyfriend things have been a little off for her, so Emily jumps at the chance to take a summer art course in Philly. New friendships and a new crush as well as her own burgeoning artistic talent change her life forever. The way she navigates her old and new friendships, thinking neither will understand the other, makes for some interesting conflict and the author does an excellent job of creating a character who is struggling with who she is.
What a relief to read a book where the female protagonist figures out who she is without the help of boys, alcohol, or sex. Vivian’s a champion at concentrating on the internal life of her characters without making the book feel self-centered. She’s also really good at making you feel what the characters are feeling – I especially felt it anytime Emily felt embarrassed. I felt embarrassed too. That’s not easy to do and 9 out of 10 authors aren’t good at it. SPOILER: I like the turnabout nature of her relationship with Fiona, an extroverted, sort of in your face type of artist who takes the much more timid Emily under her wing. You watch their Fiona-in-charge relationship wither away as Emily comes out of the shadows and into her own personality (the shadow imagery with Fiona’s art was awesome).
Older content: There’s some discussion of drinking and Emily’s best friend loses her virginity offstage.
One big quibble, though, which I did mention to someone at the publisher a couple of months ago and I hope was corrected – Emily mentions more than once that she plans to attend Trenton State. The problem with this is that Trenton State’s been the College of New Jersey since 1996 (I actually went to TSC for a semester in 1990). I was wondering if Vivian was just setting it in the nineties, except on page 102 she also makes reference to Love Park being closed to skateboarders, which Mayor Street did in 2002. So the timeline’s all off if you are familiar with the area (I grew up in South Jersey).
Despite the problem with the timeline, I highly recommend this.
Publisher: Scholastic
Pub Date: March 2009
November 11th, 2008 - 10:14 pm
Hey Melissa!
Thanks so much for the fantastic review! I am so thrilled that you enjoyed my book, and I really appreciate you taking the time to write such thoughtful, insightful comments.
I also wanted to write and address your quibble…you are definitely an astute former South Jersey girl!
It’s true…I did play a lot with the “realism” of the South Jersey in the book…and not just in the ones you point out! Cherry Grove, for instance, is a sort of idealized suburban town that’s something between Cherry Hill and Collingswood, but a bit further away, distance wise, from Philly. I also changed the name of my college (University of the Arts) to a fake name, as well as the real gallery Space 1026, to Space Invaded. I felt I had to change a few things to get them exactly what I wanted them to be in the book.
And as for Trenton State vs. TCNJ…I deliberately used the old name because I never, ever liked their new one! TS was just SO much better, in my humble opinion. And since no other schools/institutions in the book were real either, I felt it was an okay choice to make. I also went old-school there as a shout-out to my very best friend, who Meg is based on in part, and who went there. It’s also a nice homage to all my non-teen New Jersey readers! I’m so glad you picked up on it!
Thanks again for this great review. I really can’t tell you how much I appreciate it!
Best always,
Siobhan
November 12th, 2008 - 11:51 am
Hi Siobhan –
Thanks for stopping by to explain! Even though I only went to TSC for a semester (transferred to Rowan/Glassboro State College eventually), I have always hated the name change. “The College of New Jersey.” Way to make it sound like somewhere NO ONE would ever want to go.
So I highly approve now that I understand!
Melissa
July 26th, 2009 - 9:50 am
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