Will Violet Ever Feel Like She Fits In?

Violet Diamond loves her family with all of her heart. Her mom, sister, and grandparents are special to her. Now that she's eleven she is starting to be bothered by strangers asking her if she is adopted. Just because Violet looks different from the blond haired part of her family doesn't mean she isn't part of them. It does get her thinking that she only knows half her family, and she starts to wonder about the relatives she hasn’t met. Since her father died before she ever got to know him, she hasn't had any contact with the African American side of her family. Violet wants to know more and gets her wish when her father's mother has an art gallery showing within driving distance of their house. It's exciting for Violet to see someone who looks like her, even if the encounter doesn’t go quite the way she had hoped. When her new grandmother asks her to come and stay for a week, Violet knows she has to go. Will being away from home give her a new outlook? Will meeting new family members be as easy as she thinks it will be? Is fitting in only about the way we look on the outside? What does it mean to be a “Diamond” and how will Violet change? Don’t miss this unique book about coming to terms with who we are.

I didn’t know what to expect when I picked up The Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond by Brenda Woods. I could really relate to Violet because she loves her family, and she has a great sense of humor. I also like how she collects words, because she reminds me of my best friend, Fairday. I think Violet's worries about not looking like she fits in with her family made her whole outlook change. She was at an age where she wanted to know who she was and she felt like she was missing a whole part of who she was because she didn’t know anyone from her father’s family. I especially like that Violet is like a real diamond, harder and stronger than she knows and full of sparkle. I learned a lot from reading this book and I am so glad I picked it up. Sometimes we don’t stop to think about what it is like to be in someone else’s position and we might not think about how our questions impact them. I would recommend this book to anyone in 3rd grade and up. It's a great book for people who like realistic fiction and who want to see the world from another point of view.  I think after reading it you will see things from Violet’s perspective and hopefully when you see people together you will realize that we can’t tell a thing about relationships from what we see on the surface.  

Has anyone else read The Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond? Or have you read another book by Brenda Woods?  We'd love to hear your thoughts!

Happy Reading!
~L

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