Violet on the Runway by Melissa Walker

I love YA books. And yes, before you say it, I do love all books, BUT, YA books hold a special place in my heart. We all remember that one book, the one that catapulted us into the realm of reading or cemented the "I Am A Read-a-holic" button on our shirts and more often than not it is a book we read in our younger days. THAT is why I love YA. I'm especially digging what YA authors like, Carridad Ferrer, MaryJanice Davidson & Anthony Alongi, Ann Brashares, Serena Robar, Richelle Mead, and my newest find Melissa Walker are doing for the genre - writing books that span the age barrier. In a nutshell, these authors (and many more) are to books what Shania Twain was to county music. And it is with great pleasure that I get to tell you about another such book today, so without further ado...

VIOLET ON THE RUNWAY by Melissa Walker
(BCC)

ON THE DAY MY LIFE CHANGED,

THE LADY IN GIANT CHANEL SHADES

STARED ME UP AND DOWN...

"Gorgeous, I've got fall castings coming up and I think you could IT. And I mean IT. Are you busy next weekend? I can have you on a flight to New York Friday night. If it's up to me, I'd say you're the next Kate Moss - but, you know, taller and without the PR problems...I hope!" Then she threw her perfectly highlighted hair back and laughed, which gave me a good look at her straight, white veneers.

So that's how I happen to have this business card in the front pockets of my jeans as I start my senior year of high school. The card of Angela Blythe from Tryst Models in New York City, who wants to put me on a plane this weekend and whisk me into her world of high-heeled boots and oversized sunglasses. Me, Violet Greenfield, who's been P-L-A-I-N practically forever.

And you wanna know a secret? I'm going...

It's a YA BCC, so you know what I'm gonna say already. This one especially hits the nail on the head seeing as they took it right out of the book itself, and I think I actually prefer that. I realize that that would be impossible with a lot of books, but I think whenever appropriate, editors need to take note of this.

Violet Greenfield starts her senior year with the promise that she could actually be going to New York to become a model. Being tall all her life has been some what of a cross to bear for her, in grade school they called her Jolly Green Giant, and that was about as far as most people came to even knowing who she was. It may be hard to be invisible when you're over six feet at seventeen but Violet has spent most of her life perfecting the ability to be just that.

And then one day while at work, Angela Blythe spots Violet, "This woman was, like, unabashedly staring at my awkwardness..." and offers her the opportunity of a lifetime - the chance to be a model, to be seen as something other than average, over-tall, shy Violet and it is just too alluring to give up. Written in First Person, Violet takes us through her foray into the modeling world. Filled with jealous best friends, cutthroat models, playboy partiers, and adoring fans, Violet learns that sometimes the most glamorous things in our lives are the ones we've always taken for granted.

The cast of characters that make up Violet's life are so very endearing. There are her parents, her pot smoking aunt, Julie and Roger her two best friends, a nutcase manager, and some nice, some not so nice models.

Walker managed to meld humor, a touch of Romance, and a heavy dollop of teenage angst into an endearing, cannot put down book that will have readers clamoring for more. I can tell you, I've already read it three times, and will do so again, I'm sure. This is a book for every teen aged girl that dreams big but feels small. This is a book for every woman who looks back and remembers how it felt to be seventeen and awkward. This is a book that needs to be on everyone's shelf.

If I had any complaints about VotR, it is only the pathetic little excerpt in the back of the book for the next installment of Violet's life. Come on. Can we say tease much? So what are you waiting for? Go. Get. This. Book. Now!

Take Care