Summary

Quirky and headstrong, Violet Raines likes everything the way it is. She lives in a small town in Florida, and she spends her summer days hanging out with her friends, searching for alligators in the rivers, and watching a summer storm go past. However, when a big city girl, Melissa, moves into Violet’s town, Violet doesn’t know how to react. Suddenly, she’s expected to care about boys, wear makeup, and play truth-or-dare. Violet turns to her mother for advice, and she learns that she doesn’t have to change who she is to fit in.

“When Eddie B. dared me to walk the net bridge where we’d seen an alligator and another kid got bit by a coral snake, I wasn’t scared—I just didn’t feel like doing it right then.”

—Danetter Haworth, Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightning

Why should I read this book?

Learning how to be comfortable in your own skin is an important characteristic to have. Haworth shows how challenging, yet rewarding, this can be with the protagonist, Violet. Violet doesn’t care what other people think of her and is very outgoing; however, when she meets Melissa, this all changes. She loses sight of herself and has to turn to the people most important to her in order to get some direction. This book demonstrates how influential new friends can be, and it reminds its readers that it’s best to turn to those you love most for advice.

Overall review

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3/5 bookmarks—this book has a lot of great lessons packed into it for young readers. I like how strong and goofy the main character is. However, the plot was a little slow moving, and I wish I had seen a little more development on the secondary characters.