Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond

October 28, 2013
Woods (Saint Louis Armstrong Beach) returns with the story of 11-year old Violet Diamond, who is struggling with her biracial identity; the novel handles big-picture topics well, but falters with its energy and authenticity. Violet is the daughter of an African-American father, who died in a car accident two months before her birth, and a white mother. Violet’s Seattle suburb is largely white, and Violet feels angry and confused by the puzzlement people display when they see her with her white family. Motivated by a dream about her father, Violet reaches out to cultivate a relationship with her paternal grandmother and her father’s family, whom she has never met. The subdued, meandering nature of the story and Violet’s overly formal voice can be difficult to connect to, but Woods deftly raises complex issues of race and identity and leaves them open for discussion: whether race matters, what makes a family, how it feels to be different, and what it means to be biracial. “To white people,” Violet thinks, “I’m half black. To black people, I’m half white.... Is that what I am, a percentage?” Ages 8–12.

September 1, 2014

Gr 4-6-Funny, sardonic Violet Diamond is at the center of this engaging, lighthearted yet thought-provoking story in which she deals with the serious issue of her racial and ethnic identity. She lives in a predominantly white city-there are only two other biracial kids in her school-with her white mother, sister, and grandparents. Her African American father died in a car accident. Violet notices the questioning looks some people give her when her family is introduced. She would like to look more like the rest of her family, so that it would be more obvious to everyone that she belongs with them. Complicating matters is the fact that her mother is estranged from Violet's paternal grandmother. The opportunity arises for Violet to meet her father's mother and spend time with her and to also spend time with other members of her father's family. In the process, Violet comes to appreciate and fully embrace both sides of her heritage and blossoms into a girl who is happy and comfortable being just who she is. Sophia Johnson presents a very credible voice to a young, funny, and thoughtful girl.-Mary Oluonye, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH

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