Violet in Bloom: A Flower Power Book

Book review by Monica Mehta, Common Sense Media
Violet in Bloom: A Flower Power Book Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 9+

Tween friends tackle healthy relationships and food choices.

Lauren Myracle Contemporary Fiction 2010
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Parents say

age 13+

Based on 1 review

Kids say

age 10+

Based on 8 reviews

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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this book.

Stands out for and .

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know a girl gets taunted about her "boobies" by some boys. There is a realistic depiction of the treatment of pigs in a slaughterhouse. A girl steps on a hamster by mistake, killing him. But girls in particular will appreciate the diverse characters and messages about acceptance and friendship: The author portrays a diverse group of friends: Violet is an African-American girl whose mom lives in a mental ward. Camilla has two moms. Yasaman is a religious Muslim character who wears a hijab and prays in school. Each girl has her own set of issues, but they work through them and fully accept one another.

Community Reviews

bestmommyigot
bestmommyigot Adult
November 5, 2019
age 13+

My daughter is 8, and an advanced reader.

She brought this and another book by the same author home from the school library. She is reading them for an AR test. I leafed through the pages and decided it was not a book my daughter needs to be reading. The obsession with crushes on boys and adult men is weird. Being worried/joking about eating a whale/ blubber and transfat or the constant boobie talk was all very odd. I am all for talking about these things with my kids, but this book does add any value to my child's life or in conversions we would be having about these subjects. I am also a bit concerned about how younger children may read this for AR tests and start to believe what is in this book is factual. It's fiction for sure - especially if you have judeo-christian values. Young kids will read this a seed is planted that it's OK to do these thing. In part because of their development age and also because they are tested on it. This is going back to the library.

This title has:

Too much sex
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

Violet, Katie-Rose, Camilla, and Yasaman aren't just BFFs, they're FFFs -- flower friends forever. Together they embark on a crusade to rid their school of evil Cheezy Nips -- unhealthy cheese snacks without any cheese in them. In the meantime, they deal with all things tween, including crushes, friendships in peril, mean girls, difficult family relationships, and bullying. All of this is set against a social media backdrop: back at home, the girls communicate through Luyyabunches.com, a private networking site that includes a blog and videos. This is the second book in the Flower Power Book series; the first is Luv Ya Bunches.

Is It Any Good?

There's a lot packed into the book, and the author has written it in a decidedly contemporary tween voice, which can be overly sweet with its liberal use of exclamation points and italics. Readers may find the diversity too forced and simplified -- none of the major problems the girls face are about their ethnicity, race, or the sexual preference of their parents. But the messages are very positive, and much about their elementary-school life is realistic.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the four different friends on the book's cover. Do they seem like full-bodied characters -- and could they be friends in real life? In what way do the girls emulate stereotypes, and how do they defy them? Can you think of other books or movies led by a very diverse group of girlfriends, like this one?

  • One of the themes in the book is bullying -- a topic that has also been in the news very much as of late. This might be a good time to check in with your kids about what kind of bullying goes on in their schools. Does what happens in the book seem realistic? How do your own experiences compare?

Book Details

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