Violet & Claire Paperback – October 31, 2000

This a wonderful story about two girls who become close friends but their friendship becomes strained under the stress of each girl chasing her dreams. They go off on their own paths and each girl is challenged by the hardships caused from their choices.It is very well written and really leaves you wanting to know what happens next. I would definitely recommend it.

I love weetziebat, but this is written more for teens than adults. Perhaps everyone but me already knows that! For the right age group, it is a great book!

Love this author. Haven't read anything by her I haven't loved.

"Two girls, blending themselves together like a magic potion, and then seperating, one more powerful and one more gentle after the alchemy, neither afraid anymore."Violet:She's dreamed only of making her own movies, about bringing her lifeless words to life. But there's so much she's missing. Conflict. A love interest. And a leading lady. And it's not like she could turn to her life to fill in these gaps, because she too is missing so much. Until she meets Claire, a doe-eyed girl full of innocence and imagination. With best friend Claire by her side, Violet finds her dreams are suddenly coming true. But without her, her life seems to be spiraling out of control.Claire:She's dreamed only of filling the void in the her life. The void that formed when her father left, and her mother mentally checked out. To face the everday cruelties Claire believes she's a part of a race of fairies forced underground by the harsh realities of the world. That's all she needs her beliefs and her poetry. That is, until she meets Violet. With best friend Violet be her side, Claire finds she has a new found sence of self and confidence. But without her, she seems to be screwing everything up - with Violet, with poetry teacher Peter, and with herself.Violet & Claire:When they collide their worlds will never be the same. They are forever changed. Forever two separate girls who share one soul. Together they experience all the highs and low life and Los Angeles has to offer them - love, sex, beauty, innocence, and drugs.Violet & Claire written by acclaimed Weetzie Bat author Francesca Lia Block has written a book so lush that readers can see, feel, and even taste the adventure unfolding within the pages.Block's writing isn't only strong, it's impressive. She never relies on simply telling the story, but strives to show readers. Through vivid description Violet and Claire's story forms beautifully in the mind's eye. Told from both perspectives readers will understand what's really going on in the lives of Block's two very different heroines.As characters, Violet and Claire have both strengths and weaknesses. For example Violet is ambious, but to a fault. Claire on the other hand is passive, but often times naive. Their flaws made them real, believable, and above all relatable. Often times I found that even though they are two separate characters they often melded together to make one solid, stable, character.What I loved most about this book is the emotions felt while reading it. Readers will experience love and hate, trust and betrayal, overwhelming happiness to dramatic bouts of melancholia. This book has it all. Violet & Claire is fun, fast read at only 170 pages long. But it will not disappoint. It will capture and engage readers of all ages.

Violet and Claire is the story of best friends. Violet wants to make movies and Claire is a shy, faerie-like girl. They become friends when Violet adopts Claire at school, and go through lots of adventures that I can't really catalog here because they're too many and too confusing. They have their share of conflict and end up drifting apart, but since they were meant to be together, that's how they end up. In this book, we can follow the story of Violet getting swept up into the Hollywood world and Claire getting lost in the shuffle, and watch how two girls develop an identity that ultimately includes the other.

I have been a fan of Ms. Block's for years since many moons ago when The Rose and the Beast was recommended to me and I fell in love. I read as much as I could get my hands on and in time have read the vast majority of her books, but it's been years since I've really even looked at any of her classic stuff and thought it would be fun to re-visit an old favorite. I found that I am still very much enchanted by the author's beautiful use of language and lush descriptions that paint crazy vivid pictures in your head, even though the story line didn't hold my attention as much this time around. Block always writes with an effortless understanding of what it's like to be a square peg and an embracing of that different shape and the beauty in it.Also, just for good measure, one of my favorite quotes: "This was not a faerie tale. This was not the movies. This was life. It hurt more. It was excruciating. It was excruciatingly beautiful."

Personalmente amo l'autrice, e consiglio ogni suo libro