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Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Salem Main Library | J Woods, B. | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Monmouth Public Library | J Fic Woods, B. 2014 | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Newberg Public Library | J FICTION WOODS | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Willamina Public Library | JF WOODS | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Coretta Scott King Honor winner Brenda Woods' moving, uplifting story of a girl finally meeting the African American side of her family explores racism and how it feels to be biracial, and celebrates families of all kinds.
Violet is a smart, funny, brown-eyed, brown-haired girl in a family of blonds. Her mom is white, and her dad, who died before she was born, was black. She attends a mostly white school where she sometimes feels like a brown leaf on a pile of snow. She's tired of people asking if she's adopted. Now that Violet's eleven, she decides it's time to learn about her African American heritage. And despite getting off to a rocky start trying to reclaim her dad's side of the family, she can feel her confidence growing as the puzzle pieces of her life finally start coming together. Readers will cheer for Violet, sharing her joy as she discovers her roots.
Author Notes
Brenda Woods (www.brendawoods.net) was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, raised in southern California, and attended California State University, Northridge. She is the award-winning author of several books for young readers: Coretta Scott King Honor winner The Red Rose Box , Saint Louis Armstrong Beach , VOYA Top Shelf Fiction selection Emako Blue , My Name is Sally Little Song , and A Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . Her numerous awards and honors include the Judy Lopez Memorial Award, FOCAL award, Pen Center USA's Literary Award finalist, IRA Children's Choice Young Adult Fiction Award, and ALA Quick Pick. She lives in the Los Angeles area.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-Violet Diamond's father died in a car accident two months before her birth, and the 11-year-old has always felt that a piece of her was missing. As the daughter of an African American father and Caucasian mother, she is frustrated with narrow racial assumptions directed at her by those living in her predominantly white neighborhood in Seattle. After eavesdropping on an eye-opening family conversation, Violet digs around and finds out that Roxanne Diamond, the estranged paternal grandmother she's never met, is having an art exhibition in Seattle, and the resourceful tween vows to meet her. Complex family history renders their first meeting awkward and tense, but Roxanne genuinely wants to be involved in her granddaughter's life. Violet travels with her grandmother to Los Angeles to meet her father's relatives and better understand her African American heritage. Violet's charming quirks, which include nighttime wishing rituals and keeping a mental catalogue of sophisticated vocabulary words, prove endearing. In this quiet story, Woods's admirably touches upon profound issues related to identity and race and tenderly conveys intergenerational bonds.-Lalitha Nataraj, Escondido Public Library, CA (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Woods (Saint Louis Armstrong Beach) returns with the story of 11-year old Violet Diamond, who is struggling with her biracial identity; the novel handles big-picture topics well, but falters with its energy and authenticity. Violet is the daughter of an African-American father, who died in a car accident two months before her birth, and a white mother. Violet's Seattle suburb is largely white, and Violet feels angry and confused by the puzzlement people display when they see her with her white family. Motivated by a dream about her father, Violet reaches out to cultivate a relationship with her paternal grandmother and her father's family, whom she has never met. The subdued, meandering nature of the story and Violet's overly formal voice can be difficult to connect to, but Woods deftly raises complex issues of race and identity and leaves them open for discussion: whether race matters, what makes a family, how it feels to be different, and what it means to be biracial. "To white people," Violet thinks, "I'm half black. To black people, I'm half white.... Is that what I am, a percentage?" Ages 8-12. (Jan) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Eleven-year-old Violet, whose African American father died before she was born, has always felt different from her white mom and half-sister. Then Violet meets her paternal grandmother, and the two quickly form a strong bond that fills a void in each of their lives. Woods carefully fuses an affirmation of familial love's healing properties to a gentle exploration of cultural and racial identity. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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 familybusy neonatologist mom; sister, Daisy, 17; mom's lively, ex-hippie parentsshe'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'snot 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 mulattoshe'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 compassiona fresh take on an old paradigm. (Fiction. 8-12)]]]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Eleven-year-old Violet Diamond feels as though she doesn't belong she's a brown leaf on a pile of white snow. A biracial child, she never knew her father, who died before she was born. Violet is tired of the strange looks from people who don't understand her background, so she researches her family on her father's side and learns that her artist grandmother will be visiting Seattle. Violet jumps at the chance to meet her and soon feels belonging and acceptance as she gains answers about the dad she never knew, thereby giving her a far more confident sense of self. Woods' novel has a lot of heart, and Violet is someone many readers will relate to. Side characters, too, are well developed, and while Violet's reconciliation with her long-lost grandmother comes a bit too easily, Violet's warm journey of self-discovery is realistic. A sweet, heartfelt tale.--Thompson, Sarah Bean Copyright 2010 Booklist