‘Viola’ a novel about friendship, growing up

  Fourteen-year-old Viola Chesterton’s entire life is turned upside down when she is sent to spend her freshman year at the Prefect Academy for Young Women in South Bend, Ind. To Brooklyn-girl Viola, she might as well have been dropped off the face of the earth. But as her documentary-filmmaker parents are about to embark on a yearlong project in Afghanistan, Viola has no choice but to suck it up and adapt to her new life.
  In a new genre, best-selling author Adriana Trigiani explores the unpredictable and hormonal world of teenagers and boarding school life in “Viola In Reel Life.”
  Assigned to a “quad” room in the dormitory, Viola meets her three roommates — Marisol, Romy and Suzanne, who actually seem pretty excited to be at the school, along with her residential adviser, the perpetually perky Trish. Unwilling to join in the school activities at first, Viola retreats behind her video camera, documenting her torture in a video diary. But it’s her talent with the camera that soon leads her to becoming a sought-after expert in all things creative.
  As the year progresses, Viola grows into her maturity with an unusual grace for one so young. She falls in love with a boy from a neighboring boys’ school, discovers that she might be stronger than she realized when faced with disappointments, and experiences triumph when her own documentary film scores high in a regional contest.
  Viola also finds that her roommates have become as close as sisters to her. She also learns that her parents and grandmother had sacrificed a great deal for her to attend the school, and that Andrew (her best friend back home) would still be there for her when she returned.
  Trigiani perfectly captures the angst and the joys that make up the teenage girl’s world with her masterful storytelling. The ghost story that is intertwined into the tale is an interesting addition, but all in all “Viola In Reel Life” is a refreshing escape from all things otherworldly and vampirey that are so popular in young adult novels today. This is simply a delightful book about friendships, family and growing up.