I love Epinions. One reason? It’s led me to a lot of great books.
Sometimes the recommendation will come directly to me from a trusted
fellow reviewer. Other times, I’ll stumble upon a review that intrigues
me so much, I have to scour the library system in search of that title.
It was the latter that led me to Susin Nielsen’s Dear George Clooney, Please Marry My Mom,
a mid-grade novel narrated by Violet Gustafson, a cynical 12-year-old
who is sick of seeing her divorced mom blunder her way through one bad
relationship after another.
Violet and her affectionate
five-year-old sister Rosie live in Vancouver with their 37-year-old
mother Irene, a hairdresser who used to work in film and television.
That’s how Irene met their father Ian, a philandering director who
turned their world upside-down when he moved to Los Angeles with
Jennica, the voluptuous young star of his latest series and soon-to-be
mother of his twin daughters. That was more than two years before the
beginning of this book.
In that time, Violet’s mom has focused
most of her energy on trying to fill the void left by his absence, and
Violet has had to grow up much too quickly. She’s tired of having so
much responsibility on her shoulders and of dreading what her mom’s next
date will bring. She wants to feel secure again, so she hatches an
audacious plan to fix Irene up with the perfect man: George Clooney.
After all, she had done his hair years ago, and he’d given her a photo
with the message, “May Our Paths Cross Again.” Surely an earnest letter
from this desperate word nerd will be enough to convince him that his
true love awaits in Vancouver.
In some ways, the authentic- but
precocious-sounding Violet is a very sympathetic narrator. Bullied at
school herself, she is fiercely protective of Rosie, and generally she
takes very good care of her. She has an important support system in the
form of Phoebe, the calm, understanding girl who has been her best
friend since kindergarten, and she often inclines the ear of her mom’s
kind friend Amanda, the one person she knows whose romantic relationship
gives her reason to hope that her mother might one day find happiness
in that department. She wants the best not only for her and Rosie, but
for her mom too.
But Violet is also a sulky, snarky child with
major anger management issues. She resents being sent to counseling
sessions that she sees as pointless. She is flat-out rude to Ingrid’s
irresponsible friend Karen. She peppers her mom’s boyfriends with a
barrage of sarcastic remarks and impertinent questions, hoping to nip
one more train wreck in the bud. And she absolutely seethes in the
presence of her father and Jennica. Her behavior toward them is often
downright vindictive, and on one fateful occasion, her half-sisters get
caught in the crossfire. Her extreme reluctance to apologize for her
misdeeds is frustrating.
I couldn’t help feeling sorry for
Jennica, despite her home-wrecking status. Now that Ian has clearly made
a new life for himself, it’s apparent that Jennica wants to reach out
to her stepdaughters, but Violet has nothing to offer but venom. Mostly,
though, I empathized with Irene’s latest boyfriend, the one whose
arrival sends the stretched-to-her-limit Violet into crisis mode.
Violet
hates him instantly, declaring him a pudgy, balding, dorky punster who
her mom shouldn’t even be giving a second glance. He owns a bath goods
shop called Skip to My Loo. He wears kitschy hand-knitted sweaters. His
name is Dudley Weiner. No, he won’t do at all. What she’s too stubborn
to see is that while Dudley may not have supermodel looks or a suave
demeanor to match, he does have something all of Irene’s previous
suitors have lacked: the spirit of a gentleman. And Rosie absolutely
adores him.
This aspect of the book reminded me very much of Much Ado About Anne,
the second book in Heather Vogel Frederick’s Mother-Daughter Book Club
Series. In that book, the girl in question lost her father in a car
accident, and she deeply resents the intrusion of a mild-mannered
accountant named Stanley who has inexplicably swept her mother off her
feet. In both books, the contempt of the daughter is understandable, but
it’s hard to see them act so viciously toward such guileless men.
Another book I thought of as I read was Leslie Connor’s Waiting for Normal,
a beautiful mid-grade novel I encountered a couple years ago. Addie,
the narrator in that book, had undergone unspeakable trauma in her first
12 years, yet she continued to embrace life with optimism and grace. I
kept recalling her and thinking that Violet could stand to be a little
more like Addie and a little less consumed by bitterness. Then again,
letting go of anger is a big part of what this book is all about.
While
I did struggle with Violet’s cruel streak, I mostly found this book
very enjoyable. I like her sharp wit when it isn’t being destructively
channeled, and in a book revolving around an attempt to connect with a
movie star, it’s fitting that she fills her reflections with pop culture
references. She talks of her compulsive need to alphabetize her mom’s
video collection in a variety of ways; she compares a particularly bad
day to Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events; she uses
techniques learned from Nancy Drew and Harriet the Spy to conduct
stake-outs at the homes of her mom’s boyfriends. And toward the end of
the book, she learns that her dad is currently working on a show that
Jennica describes as “a cross between LOST and Touched By an Angel.” Now that sounds like something I’d gladly watch!
Her
friendship with Phoebe is touching, and there’s something undeniably
sweet about her interaction with Jean-Paul, a soft-spoken classmate who
seems to enjoy her company and causes her to reconsider her fervent vow
never to fall in love. The book made me laugh many times, but I liked it
best when it moved me as Violet’s carefully constructed fortress begins
to crumble, allowing her to slowly accept the light of others’ love.
This is a girl who has reason to be wary, but it’s heartening to see her
gradually learn how to trust again. And what role, if any, does George
Clooney play in this healing process? You’ll just have to read it for
yourself to find out…
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