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)
