Dear George Clooney

Starred review from July 19, 2010
Nielsen (Word Nerd) has created a narrator as sassy and candid as this memorable novel's title. Smarting from her parents' divorce—her director father left her mother to marry an actress—Violet is fed up with all the "losers" her mother has since dated. When introduced to beau number 10, the pudgy and unfortunately named Dudley Wiener, the 12-year-old decides she "couldn't be a bystander any longer." She pens a letter to George Clooney (her mother, a stylist, once did his hair on a movie set), explaining that she's trying to find a suitable suitor for her parent ("I have a very good feeling about you"), adding that she and her younger sister, Rosie, would make "excellent stepchildren" with "none of the fuss and muss of babies." Nielsen skillfully balances her story's keen humor—Violet's attempts to sabotage her mother's relationship with bighearted Dudley are hilarious—with poignancy. Especially affecting are Violet's struggles to accept her father's new family and her devotion to both her mother and Rosie. A bonus: Clooney makes a cameo. Ages 11–14.

July 15, 2010

Laugh-out-loud humor deftly mixes with insight into a troubled girl's pain over her parents' divorce, keeping readers involved on every page. Twelve-year old Violet develops some remarkably nasty antisocial coping strategies as she lashes out at those she blames for her family's breakup, sometimes scoring against innocent parties as well as more culpable ones. Nielsen has real talent for comedy, zoning in on just the right level of snark as she describes Violet's campaign to find a better man for her Mom than the losers she's been dating: George Clooney, of course. The situation is desperate. Mom is dating Dudley Wiener, who's as dorky as his name. Meanwhile, Violet navigates the dangerous world of middle-school relationships. The narrative's balance tips much more into comedy than drama, but it illuminates Violet's psychological difficulties among the laughs. Best friends, stuck-up enemies and a possible love interest for Violet spice up the story. A nifty almost-saw-it-coming ending puts everything right. This comic novel scores. (Fiction. YA)

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

September 1, 2010

Gr 5-8-Violet can't stand her father, her new stepmother's fake boobs, the whole middle-school boy-girl thing, or her mother dating a geeky punster named Dudley Wiener, so she solicits George Clooney as an alternative future stepdad. It's no spoiler to reveal that Mr. Clooney does not marry the angry 12-year-old Vancouver girl's mother, although he does appear to give her some sage advice. Actually, the Clooney gimmick is the one part of this otherwise rather down-to-earth daughter-of-divorce book that doesn't gel (although it sure will grab readers' attention). All of the characters and their complicated relationships are wonderfully realized. Violet's anger is palpable, and there's just enough humor-slapstick, gross-out, and just plain goofy-to temper the emotional bits. The girl's voice, which is often too jaded, confident, worldly, and wise for her years, softens just the right amount with love for her five-year-old sister. Whether or not you can believe the celebrity bits, this novel is a steady addition to most middle-school collections.-Rhona Campbell, formerly at Washington, DC Public Library

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2010
Grades 5-8 Twelve-year-old Violets dad now lives with his new wife and toddler daughters in a fancy L.A. house, while she remains in her run-down Vancouver home with her younger sister Rosie and her alimony-refusing, serial-dating mom. But after Mom starts seeing loud-sweater-wearing punster Dudley Wiener, Violet decides to find Mom a new manspecifically, George Clooney. Neither her efforts to contact Clooney nor sabotage her moms relationship go as planned, though, even after she finds an opportunity to meet the movie star while visiting her TV-producer dad. Violet is a complex, appealing character whose intimate, lively first-person narrative, both droll and heartfelt, discusses classmate conflicts and crushes as well as her insecurities and her gradual acceptance of what she can and cannot control. Though she often faces challenges and situations with not-so-graceful aplomb, Violets growth and authentic range of emotions, from anger (including some cringeworthy acting up) to healing and trust, ring true in this very engaging read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)