Violets Are Blue
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5.0 • 3 Ratings
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
From the author of the acclaimed My Life in the Fish Tank and Maybe He Just Likes You comes a moving and relatable middle grade novel about secrets, family, and the power of forgiveness.
Twelve-year-old Wren loves makeup—special effect makeup, to be exact. When she is experimenting with new looks, Wren can create a different version of herself. A girl who isn’t in a sort-of-best friendship with someone who seems like she hates her. A girl whose parents aren’t divorced and doesn’t have to learn to like her new stepmom.
So, when Wren and her mom move to a new town for a fresh start, she is cautiously optimistic. And things seem to fall into place when Wren meets potential friends and gets selected as the makeup artist for her school’s upcoming production of Wicked.
Only, Wren’s mom isn’t doing so well. She’s taking a lot of naps, starts snapping at Wren for no reason, and always seems to be sick. And what’s worse, Wren keeps getting hints that things aren’t going well at her new job at the hospital, where her mom is a nurse. And after an opening night disaster leads to a heartbreaking discovery, Wren realizes that her mother has a serious problem—a problem that can’t be wiped away or covered up.
After all the progress she’s made, can Wren start over again with her devastating new normal? And will she ever be able to heal the broken trust with her mom?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Weaving two very different but timely topics—makeup tutorial videos and opioid addiction—Dee's (My Life in the Fish Tank) frequently poignant middle grade novel depicts the ways that both adults and children can feel out of control. Cued-white 11-year-old Renata, who goes by Wren, copes with her parents' separation by immersing herself in online videos from Cat FX, a special effects makeup artist who specializes in sci-fi and fantasy looks. But after Wren's dad begins a new life in Brooklyn with a new girlfriend, Wren's mother seems increasingly peevish and exhausted—copious hints suggest that she's not simply working too hard at her job as an ER nurse. Caught between her parents, Wren also has plenty going on at her new Chicago school as she tries to navigate crushes and a difficult friendship while doing makeup for the school production of Wicked. The cycle of substance reliance and cover-up is realistically drawn out, as is Wren's anxiety about her circumstances: "It felt like my only options ever were: Keep everyone happy. End the fighting. Don't make problems." With flawed, realistic characters and dynamics, this reconciliatory novel is a believable balm for young people at the mercy of adult choices and scenarios. Ages 9–13.
