Viola in Reel Life [Paperback]

Adriana Trigiani (Author)

Book Description

Series: Viola in Reel Life | Publication Date: February 1, 2011

I'm marooned.
Abandoned.
Left to rot in boarding school . . .

There are four reasons why Viola Chesterton knows she'll never survive her first year at Prefect Academy:

• Her parents have heartlessly dropped her there against her will
• She has to leave behind her Best Friend Forever And Always, Andrew
• . . . and replace him with three new roommates who, disturbingly, actually seem to like it there
• "There" is South Bend, Indiana—Sherbet-Colored Sweater Capital of the World and about as far away from her hometown of Brooklyn, New York, as you can get

At least she has her video camera and her dreams of being a filmmaker to keep her busy. But boarding school, and her roommates, and even the Midwest are nothing like she thought they would be, and soon Viola realizes she may be in for the most incredible year of her life. But first she has to put the camera down and let the world in.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7–9—Viola's parents dumped her in the middle of nowhere. Well maybe "nowhere" isn't exactly true and perhaps "dumped" is too strong a word. As documentary filmmakers, her parents follow their stories. While they are filming in Afghanistan, they send their daughter to Prefect Academy for Young Women in South Bend, IN. Away from her home and friends in Brooklyn, Viola has resolved to be miserable. Her only comfort is in her daily IM conversations with her BFF, Andrew, and her personal video diary, "The Viola Reels." Then she meets her roommates, who are too great to be indifferent toward. Her constant video-camera-toting lands her on committees for school functions. To top it all off she meets a boy who shares her interest at a school dance. Suddenly, the ninth grader is happy, busy, and feeling at home. She even enters a film competition. Through the help and support of her friends and family, it could just be the short film of her dreams, maybe even good enough to win the competition. Viola in Reel Life is a sweet, character-driven story. Viola is very real, as are her feelings, hopes, desires, and dreams. There is not a lot of action, but the relationships portrayed in the book make it well worth reading.—Melyssa Malinowski, Kenwood High School, Baltimore, MD END --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“Sarah Dessen for middle school…Trigiani deftly shows that teenage girls can be independent, have positive self-images, and be happy.” (Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) )

“A sweet, character-driven story. Viola is very real, as are her feelings, hopes, desires, and dreams.” (School Library Journal )

“This book reminds each of us that a fish out of water really can find a new pond! Read it to remind yourself that your friends really do teach you something new every day.” (Justine Magazine )

“Trigiani (Big Stone Gap) takes the familiar boarding school milieu and gives it some welcome nuance and a refreshingly grounded feel in her debut YA work. [She] offers a realistic look at the ever–shifting bonds of friendship and the adjustment to one’s first taste of life away from home.” (Publishers Weekly )

“A cold, snowy winter, a ghost mystery, kisses, cookies, roommates, a video diary, a film competition, and Viola’s crack-me-up-every time observations all make this an endearing coming of age story…exceptionally fun.” (Richie's Picks )

“Best-selling adult author Trigiani nicely captures boarding-school bonding, adolescent female insecurities, and current teen trends. Fun, breezy, and full of subtle life lessons, this is a good follow-up or prequel to the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series.” (Booklist )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  
• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: HarperTeen; Reprint edition (February 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061451045
• ISBN-13: 978-0061451041
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #814,504 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bestselling author Adriana Trigiani is beloved by millions of readers around the world for her hilarious and heartwarming novels. Adriana was raised in a small coal-mining town in southwest Virginia in a big Italian family. She chose her hometown for the setting and title of her debut novel, the critically acclaimed bestseller Big Stone Gap. The heartwarming story continues in the novel's sequels Big Cherry Holler, Milk Glass Moon, and Home to Big Stone Gap. Stand-alone novels Lucia, Lucia; The Queen of the Big Time; and Rococo, all topped the bestseller lists, as did Trigiani's 2009 Very Valentine and its 2010 sequel Brava, Valentine.

Trigiani teamed up with her family for Cooking with My Sisters, a cookbook coauthored by her sister Mary, with contributions from their sisters and mother. The cookbook-memoir features recipes and stories dating back a hundred years from both sides of their Italian-American family.

Adriana's novels have been translated and sold in more than 35 countries around the world. Trigiani's latest blockbuster Brava, Valentine (Very Valentine's sequel) debuted at number seven on the New York Times bestseller list following its February 2010 debut. Valentine Roncalli juggles her long-distance romance, as she works to better the family's struggling business. A once-in-a-lifetime business opportunity takes Val from the winding streets of Greenwich Village to the sun-kissed cobblestones of Buenos Aires, where she finds a long-buried secret hidden deep within a family scandal.

Trigiani's first young adult novel, Viola in Reel Life--the first in a series--debuted in September 2009. Fans fell in love with fourteen-year-old filmmaker Viola Chesterton, who moves from Brooklyn to a South Bend, Indiana, boarding school. In Spring 2011, readers will delight in Trigiani's follow-up novel Viola in the Spotlight, as Viola and friends spend an adventure-filled summer vacation in Brooklyn.

Readers will take a peek into the lives of the women who shaped Adriana, with her November 2010 nonfiction debut: Don't Sing at the Table: Life Lessons from my Grandmothers. The book makes a lovely gift for family (or yourself!), as Trigiani shares a treasure trove of insight and guidance from her two grandmothers: time-tested common sense advice on the most important aspects of a woman's life, from childhood to old age.

Fans everywhere will soon see Adriana's work on the big and small screens! She wrote the screenplay for and will direct the big screen version of her novel Big Stone Gap. Adriana has also written the film adaptations of Lucia, Lucia and Very Valentine--which will be made into a Lifetime Original Movie in 2011!

Critics from the Washington Post to the New York Times to People have described Adriana's novels as "tiramisu for the soul," "sophisticated and wise," and "dazzling." They agree that "her characters are so lively they bounce off the page," and that "...her novels are full bodied and elegantly written."

Trigiani's novels have been chosen for the USA Today Book Club, the Target Bookmarked series, and she's now officially a regular with Barnes & Noble Book Clubs, where she has conducted three online book clubs. Adriana speaks to book clubs from her home three to four nights a week.

Her books are so popular around the world that Lucia, Lucia was selected as the best read of 2004 in England by Richard and Judy.

After graduating from Saint Mary's College in South Bend, Indiana, Adriana moved to New York City to become a playwright. She founded the all-female comedy troupe "The Outcasts," which performed on the cabaret circuit for seven years. She made her off-Broadway debut at the Manhattan Theatre Club and was produced in regional theatres of note around the country.

Among her many television credits, Adriana was a writer/producer on The Cosby Show, A Different World, and executive producer/head writer for City Kids for Jim Henson Productions. Her Lifetime television special, Growing Up Funny, garnered an Emmy Award nomination for Lily Tomlin. In 1996, she wrote and directed the documentary film Queens of the Big Time. It won the Audience Award at the Hamptons Film Festival and toured the international film festival circuit from Hong Kong to London.

Adriana then wrote a screenplay called Big Stone Gap, which became the novel that began the series. Adriana spent a year and a half waking up at three in the morning to write the novel before going into work on a television show.

Adriana is married to Tim Stephenson, the Emmy Award-winning lighting designer of The Late Show with David Letterman. They live in Greenwich Village with their daughter, Lucia.

Perhaps one popular book critic said it best: "Trigiani defies categorization. She is more than a one-hit wonder, more than a Southern writer, more than a woman's novelist. She is an amazing young talent

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Viola in Reel Life, September 1, 2009

By 

Jenny, Wondrous Reads (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Viola in Reel Life (Hardcover)

Viola in Reel Life is the first book I've read by Adriana Trigiani, and it definitely won't be my last. Her witty writing had me laughing all the way through Viola's story, and I loved every minute of it.

Viola's adjustment to life in South Bend, Indiana fascinated me, and I was eager for her to fit in right from chapter one. The way she adapts and gives her new school a try really made me think about how I live my own life, and how new experiences can be good -- daunting, but worthwhile in the end. Suzanne, Marisol and Romy, the roommates she meets at The Prefect Academy For Girls, are exactly the type of friends I would have wanted in ninth grade. They're supportive, individual and, most importantly, unwaveringly loyal to each other. They bring Viola out of her snarky shell, and help her in her quest to become a successful filmmaker.

The boys in this book are both sweet and infuriating. Andrew, Viola's BFF from back home in Brooklyn, is brought to us through the use of IM messages, which manage to get his personality across surprisingly well. I hope he has a part in the rest of the series, as I really want to know what's going on in his head. First boyfriend Jared is one of those boys that seems great on the outside, but underneath, he's not all he's cracked up to be. I thought Viola's relationship was very realistic, and representative of a lot of first outings into the world of romance.

Trigiani has completely hooked me with this book, Viola's endearing Brooklyn background, and her ninth grade stint in Indiana. I heard that the next three books will all be from a different character's point of view, and I can't wait to find out what happens to this captivating group of girls, as they continue to experience new things and shape each other's lives.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cute and fun, September 26, 2009

By 

Sarah Woodard (Bremerton, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Viola in Reel Life (Hardcover)

Viola doesn't want to go to boarding school, but somehow she ends up at an all-girl school in South Bend, Indiana. Her boarding school is far away from her home in Brooklyn, New York. There is no way that she is going to survive a whole year here. She is going to miss her best friend Andrew and Caitlin. She now has to replace it with her three new roommates, who actually like it. Most of the time, Viola is hidden behind her video camera, but what happens when she puts her camera down and starts living her life.
This is the first book that I have read of Adriana Trigiani, but it won't be my last. Her writing was witty and amazing. I was laughing for most of the book. I was really glad that Viola adjusted to boarding school. Suzanne, Marisol and Romy were amazing roommates. They reminded me a lot of friends that I had as a freshmen. Trigiani was able to bring Andrew's personality and Jared was also interesting. I am definitely going to have to read her other books soon. It was a great coming of age novel and I really enjoyed it. I recommend checking it out.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A sweet story about growing up and gaining confidence, October 1, 2009

By 

BermudaOnion (South Carolina) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Viola in Reel Life (Hardcover)

Viola Chesterton is from Brooklyn and her parents are documentary filmmakers. When Viola's parents accept an assignment in Afghanistan, Viola is sent to Prefect Academy, a boarding school in South Bend, Indiana, for a year. Viola cries as they leave and is miserable at first. She feels abandoned and lonely, and she misses her best friend back in Brooklyn.

With the help of her roommates, her grandmother, and her film making abilities, Viola not only survives her first year but gains new confidence and learns a lot about herself along the way. Viola says:

"Marisol just says that word sister lightly, like right off the top of her head without thinking. But all my life, I have wished for a sister. I had hoped my parents would have a baby when I was small, and then when I got to be twelve I wanted them to go to China and adopt. But Mom would always smile and say, "We have our hands full with you." And maybe she was right. But what Mom never told me is that along the way, you find sisters, and they find you. Girls are very cool that way."

Viola in Reel Life is Adriana Trigiani's first YA novel and I absolutely loved it! This isn't edgy YA, but rather a sweet story about growing up and gaining confidence. Viola is a great character because she's not perfect, but she tries to learn from her mistakes. I got teary-eyed in a few places as Viola grew stronger, gained some confidence and came to value her friends and family. I've read that this might become a series and I really hope so!