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Dear George Clooney: Please Marry My Mom
Violet's TV-director dad has traded a job in Vancouver for one in Los Angeles, their run-down house for a sleek ranch-style home complete with a pool, and, worst of all, Violet's mother for a trophy wife, a blonde actress named Jennica. Violet's younger sister reacts by bed-wetting, and her mother ping-pongs from one loser to another, searching for love. As for Violet, she gets angry in ways that are by turns infuriating, shocking, and hilarious.
When her mother takes up with the unfortunately named Dudley Wiener, Violet and her friend Phoebe decide that they need to take control. If Violet's mom can't pick a decent man herself, they will help her snag George Clooney.
In Dear George Clooney, Please Marry My Mom , Susin Nielsen has created a truly original protagonist in Violet and a brilliant new novel that will delight readers into rooting for her, even when she's at her worst.
When her mother takes up with the unfortunately named Dudley Wiener, Violet and her friend Phoebe decide that they need to take control. If Violet's mom can't pick a decent man herself, they will help her snag George Clooney.
In Dear George Clooney, Please Marry My Mom , Susin Nielsen has created a truly original protagonist in Violet and a brilliant new novel that will delight readers into rooting for her, even when she's at her worst.
229 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
44 people are currently reading
1182 people want to read
About the author
Susin Nielsen
20 books632 followersSusin got her start feeding cast and crew on the popular television series, Degrassi Junior High. They hated her food, but they saw a spark in her writing. Nielsen went on to pen sixteen episodes of the hit TV show. Since then, Nielsen has written for over 20 Canadian TV series. Her first young adult novel, Word Nerd, was published in 2008 to critical acclaim. It won multiple Young Readers’ Choice Awards, as did her second novel, Dear George Clooney: Please Marry My Mom. Her third novel, The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen, was published in August 2012. It went on to win the Governor General’s Literary Award, the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award, the Canadian Library Association’s Children’s Book of the Year Award, and a number of Young Readers’ Choice Awards. Author Wally Lamb named it his top YA pick for 2012 in his “First Annual Wally Awards,” and recently Rolling Stone magazine put it at #27 in their list of “Top 40 Best YA Novels.”
Her books have been translated into multiple languages. Susin’s new novel, We Are All Made of Molecules, will be published in Canada, the US and the UK in Spring of 2015. She lives in Vancouver with her family and two naughty cats. She is delighted to have finally figure out how to "claim" her author profile on Goodreads!
Her books have been translated into multiple languages. Susin’s new novel, We Are All Made of Molecules, will be published in Canada, the US and the UK in Spring of 2015. She lives in Vancouver with her family and two naughty cats. She is delighted to have finally figure out how to "claim" her author profile on Goodreads!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 317 reviews
September 24, 2010
To really show you just how wonderful this book is, I would pretty much have to reproduce its entire 229 pages here, which would probably get me sued. So I won’t do that. But I am going to share some of my favorite passages with you. Truth be told, I highlighted almost the entire book, so even picking out favorite passages of my many, many favorite passages has been a chore. I’m going to limit myself, therefore, to passages from the first half of the novel so I don’t spoil too much for you. Because seriously, you’ve got to read this book.
So let’s start by taking a look at the opening line from Dear George Clooney, Please Marry My Mom:
FOR THE RECORD: I did not mean to send my two half sisters to the emergency room.
Now that’s a hook! From the first sentence Nielsen grabbed me by the throat (in the best way) and yanked me into her story. What agent or editor could turn down an opening like that? It’s got everything. It introduces conflict, character, and the tone of the novel all in just sixteen words!
The situation here is that twelve year old Violet and her sister Rosie are in LA visiting their dad and his pretty new wife and their new twin daughters. It isn’t going well. I try not to hate fictional characters, but I hate Violet’s dad. I want to find him wherever he is and punch him in the face. He’s a television director and he left the girls and their mother for a pretty blonde actress named Jennica (how perfect is that name?). When the girls arrive, their father and their new stepmother make a big show of paying attention to the new twins and he treats Violet and Rosie like guests rather than his first daughters. See how effortlessly Nielsen captures Violet’s feelings about all of this in just three paragraphs of description:
Lola and Lucy were so cute, it hurt. They were just under two years old, and they'd inherited the best of their parents' genes: Jennica's thick blonde hair and big brown eyes, and my dad's chin dimple and megawatt smile.
Rosie and I hadn't been nearly as lucky in the gene pool lottery. Despite having the same father and a very attractive mother, all we'd inherited was Dad's mousy brown hair and his poor eyesight. He wore contacts; we wore glasses. I'd managed to get his big feet and ears, too, and his bulbous man-knees. All these things looked good on my dad, but transplanted onto a scrawny girl like me, it was seriously unfortunate.
We played with the twins for a long time in that sandbox. They adored being with Rosie and me, and I would have loved them with all my heart if I hadn't hated them so much.
What Nielsen does next takes real courage. In response to being treated so shabbily by her father, Violet feeds these sweet little baby girls who never did a thing to anyone cat turds. She tells them its chocolate and laughs as they swallow actual poop. Stepmom Jennica freaks out and rushes the twins to the hospital, thusly fulfilling the promise of the opening line. Now I’m not in favor of feeding children poop, but I understand why Violet does it. I suspect not every reader will. Nielsen takes a real chance of turning some readers off in the first chapter. But by doing so, she creates in Violet an immediately sympathetic character I think far more readers will relate to. After this, I was ready to read about anything Violet did. And although eating poop is gross, the twin girls are fine.
Next, we meet Violet’s mom. Nielsen is a master of writing description. She uses plain, straightforward language that doesn’t draw attention to itself by being overly lavish. She simply tells us what we need to know, hones in on a few details that illuminate the character, and moves on. She is, in fact, so skilled a writer that if I did not do my reading Ninja style with a highlighter and pen, I probably wouldn’t have noticed. That’s the mark of a true great; the reader is sucked up into the story and forgets there is a writer. But there is a writer, of course, and just look at what she does here in her description of Violet's mother:
It was her clothes I couldn't stand. She'd started dressing differently after the divorce papers were signed. Her jeans were too tight, and her shirt was cropped to let her stomach show, a stomach that had had to stretch not once but twice to hold babies. A soft layer of flab drooped over the waste of her pants. To top it off, her belly button was pierced--a belated birthday gift from her friend Karen after they'd had a few too many margaritas one night.
Violet’s mom is a long way from perfect, but I like her a lot better than Violet’s dad. But what I really like is that there are no perfect characters in this book, particularly in the land of adults. Violet’s mother does some things readers might not agree with and later in the story some Facebook photos of her looking and acting like, well, a hoochie, I guess, create some major story issues for Violet. Because Violet’s mom is doing everything she can to find a man, she gets a bad reputation, and she goes through a lot of loser guys. But Nielsen can tell you better than I can:
As we continued our leisurely descent, I said my little prayer: Dear God, or Allah, or Buddha or Zeus or Whoever-You-Are, please let this one be okay. Please don't let him be a cheater (Jonathan), a cheapskate (Alphonse), an alcoholic (Carl), a creep (Guy), married (Larry), or a general, all-around jerk (Dimitri, Paulo, Jake, Yuri).
I said this prayer even though I'm a cynic when it comes to love because I know that my mother is not. You'd think, after what happened with Dad, that she'd given up on men and found contentment in a life dedicated to child-rearing, hard work, and celibacy. But no. Despite a growing list of epic failures, she had this freakish need to have a man in her life. So she dated like there was no tomorrow, always hoping the next guy would be The One.
Much of the plot centers around Violet going to great lengths to protect her mother and by extension her and her little sister from her mother’s loser boyfriends. There are some particularly fun sequences in which Violet spies on the men with binoculars. Finally, Violet comes to the conclusion that she will have to find a suitable mate for her mother and stepfather to her on her own. And who better than George Clooney? Yes, that George Clooney. Violet writes Clooney letters and sets out on a mission to convince him to marry her mom.
Needless to say, George Clooney shows up and saves the day, the end. Or maybe not. I think it’s best that I leave the plot description here, lest I spoil too much of the book for you.
Dear George Clooney, Please Marry My Mom has almost nothing to do with George Clooney, so I can repress my deep sense of injustice as a Batman fan for another day. I’m not even going to tell you if George Clooney shows up in the story or not, and it wouldn’t really matter if he did, because this book isn’t about him. This is a book about families and the constantly shifting definition of what constitutes a family these days.
Let me wrap this thing up by stating for the record that I absolutely love this book. It’s everything I want my own writing to accomplish and I’ll be studying parts of it for awhile. Nielsen’s prose is articulate, but not needlessly ornate, and she employs lots of white space which allows the pages to fly by. She’s crafted a great story that is equally hilarious and heartbreaking. Whatever else you do this year, Esteemed Reader, buy this book!
To read an interview with author Susin Nielsen or to read interviews with other writers and literary agents, check out my blog, www.middlegradeninja.blogspot.com
So let’s start by taking a look at the opening line from Dear George Clooney, Please Marry My Mom:
FOR THE RECORD: I did not mean to send my two half sisters to the emergency room.
Now that’s a hook! From the first sentence Nielsen grabbed me by the throat (in the best way) and yanked me into her story. What agent or editor could turn down an opening like that? It’s got everything. It introduces conflict, character, and the tone of the novel all in just sixteen words!
The situation here is that twelve year old Violet and her sister Rosie are in LA visiting their dad and his pretty new wife and their new twin daughters. It isn’t going well. I try not to hate fictional characters, but I hate Violet’s dad. I want to find him wherever he is and punch him in the face. He’s a television director and he left the girls and their mother for a pretty blonde actress named Jennica (how perfect is that name?). When the girls arrive, their father and their new stepmother make a big show of paying attention to the new twins and he treats Violet and Rosie like guests rather than his first daughters. See how effortlessly Nielsen captures Violet’s feelings about all of this in just three paragraphs of description:
Lola and Lucy were so cute, it hurt. They were just under two years old, and they'd inherited the best of their parents' genes: Jennica's thick blonde hair and big brown eyes, and my dad's chin dimple and megawatt smile.
Rosie and I hadn't been nearly as lucky in the gene pool lottery. Despite having the same father and a very attractive mother, all we'd inherited was Dad's mousy brown hair and his poor eyesight. He wore contacts; we wore glasses. I'd managed to get his big feet and ears, too, and his bulbous man-knees. All these things looked good on my dad, but transplanted onto a scrawny girl like me, it was seriously unfortunate.
We played with the twins for a long time in that sandbox. They adored being with Rosie and me, and I would have loved them with all my heart if I hadn't hated them so much.
What Nielsen does next takes real courage. In response to being treated so shabbily by her father, Violet feeds these sweet little baby girls who never did a thing to anyone cat turds. She tells them its chocolate and laughs as they swallow actual poop. Stepmom Jennica freaks out and rushes the twins to the hospital, thusly fulfilling the promise of the opening line. Now I’m not in favor of feeding children poop, but I understand why Violet does it. I suspect not every reader will. Nielsen takes a real chance of turning some readers off in the first chapter. But by doing so, she creates in Violet an immediately sympathetic character I think far more readers will relate to. After this, I was ready to read about anything Violet did. And although eating poop is gross, the twin girls are fine.
Next, we meet Violet’s mom. Nielsen is a master of writing description. She uses plain, straightforward language that doesn’t draw attention to itself by being overly lavish. She simply tells us what we need to know, hones in on a few details that illuminate the character, and moves on. She is, in fact, so skilled a writer that if I did not do my reading Ninja style with a highlighter and pen, I probably wouldn’t have noticed. That’s the mark of a true great; the reader is sucked up into the story and forgets there is a writer. But there is a writer, of course, and just look at what she does here in her description of Violet's mother:
It was her clothes I couldn't stand. She'd started dressing differently after the divorce papers were signed. Her jeans were too tight, and her shirt was cropped to let her stomach show, a stomach that had had to stretch not once but twice to hold babies. A soft layer of flab drooped over the waste of her pants. To top it off, her belly button was pierced--a belated birthday gift from her friend Karen after they'd had a few too many margaritas one night.
Violet’s mom is a long way from perfect, but I like her a lot better than Violet’s dad. But what I really like is that there are no perfect characters in this book, particularly in the land of adults. Violet’s mother does some things readers might not agree with and later in the story some Facebook photos of her looking and acting like, well, a hoochie, I guess, create some major story issues for Violet. Because Violet’s mom is doing everything she can to find a man, she gets a bad reputation, and she goes through a lot of loser guys. But Nielsen can tell you better than I can:
As we continued our leisurely descent, I said my little prayer: Dear God, or Allah, or Buddha or Zeus or Whoever-You-Are, please let this one be okay. Please don't let him be a cheater (Jonathan), a cheapskate (Alphonse), an alcoholic (Carl), a creep (Guy), married (Larry), or a general, all-around jerk (Dimitri, Paulo, Jake, Yuri).
I said this prayer even though I'm a cynic when it comes to love because I know that my mother is not. You'd think, after what happened with Dad, that she'd given up on men and found contentment in a life dedicated to child-rearing, hard work, and celibacy. But no. Despite a growing list of epic failures, she had this freakish need to have a man in her life. So she dated like there was no tomorrow, always hoping the next guy would be The One.
Much of the plot centers around Violet going to great lengths to protect her mother and by extension her and her little sister from her mother’s loser boyfriends. There are some particularly fun sequences in which Violet spies on the men with binoculars. Finally, Violet comes to the conclusion that she will have to find a suitable mate for her mother and stepfather to her on her own. And who better than George Clooney? Yes, that George Clooney. Violet writes Clooney letters and sets out on a mission to convince him to marry her mom.
Needless to say, George Clooney shows up and saves the day, the end. Or maybe not. I think it’s best that I leave the plot description here, lest I spoil too much of the book for you.
Dear George Clooney, Please Marry My Mom has almost nothing to do with George Clooney, so I can repress my deep sense of injustice as a Batman fan for another day. I’m not even going to tell you if George Clooney shows up in the story or not, and it wouldn’t really matter if he did, because this book isn’t about him. This is a book about families and the constantly shifting definition of what constitutes a family these days.
Let me wrap this thing up by stating for the record that I absolutely love this book. It’s everything I want my own writing to accomplish and I’ll be studying parts of it for awhile. Nielsen’s prose is articulate, but not needlessly ornate, and she employs lots of white space which allows the pages to fly by. She’s crafted a great story that is equally hilarious and heartbreaking. Whatever else you do this year, Esteemed Reader, buy this book!
To read an interview with author Susin Nielsen or to read interviews with other writers and literary agents, check out my blog, www.middlegradeninja.blogspot.com
June 23, 2022
Rating: 4.5 Stars
I am a fan of Nielsen’s books which are always packed with lots of humor and warmth. The title of this book really caught my eye. Kind of cute that a kid wanted to set their parent up with a celebrity (and thought they could). However, this was really about a pre-teen who was NOT coping with her parents’ divorce. She was not happy that her father left and had a new family. She was not delighted that her mother dated a chain of “losers”. So, Violet decided to take action. Let’s just say, she didn’t always make great choices, but the antics were often amusing.
A string of bad decisions did result in some clarity for Violet, and I was happy to see her grow and get to that point of acceptance and healing. A rather wonderful cast made this story even more delightful, and there was even a cameo from Ambrose (from Word Nerd). We all know I love crossovers like that.
With lots of fun antics and charm, Violet wormed her way into my heart as I watched her work though her pain and navigate some complicated relationships in her life.
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I am a fan of Nielsen’s books which are always packed with lots of humor and warmth. The title of this book really caught my eye. Kind of cute that a kid wanted to set their parent up with a celebrity (and thought they could). However, this was really about a pre-teen who was NOT coping with her parents’ divorce. She was not happy that her father left and had a new family. She was not delighted that her mother dated a chain of “losers”. So, Violet decided to take action. Let’s just say, she didn’t always make great choices, but the antics were often amusing.
A string of bad decisions did result in some clarity for Violet, and I was happy to see her grow and get to that point of acceptance and healing. A rather wonderful cast made this story even more delightful, and there was even a cameo from Ambrose (from Word Nerd). We all know I love crossovers like that.
With lots of fun antics and charm, Violet wormed her way into my heart as I watched her work though her pain and navigate some complicated relationships in her life.
BLOG | INSTAGRAM |TWITTER | BLOGLOVIN | FRIEND ME ON GOODREADS
September 6, 2022
LOVED IT!!!
April 11, 2016
***2.5***
I had high hopes for this book. Everyone told me this was a charming & funny read & when I was looking through it before reading it, it looked very cute indeed.
Let's start with Violet (MC). She was the main reason why I was so disappointed. She was so immature and dramatic (and not funny at all ). I know that she was 12 years old (I think) but I still had to remind myself that she was a kid & that's how kids act someday but she was still too immature for me to feel any sympathy for her at all.
The next thing that bothered me a bit was the writing style. At first I liked it and thought that it was fun and unique, however as I read more it started to get a little annoying.
I'm sure that this book is enjoyable but it was not the read for me, maybe if I had been younger or older with more patient for dramatic brats I would have liked it.
I gave it only 2.5 * because I did enjoyed for a while but then I didn't. I also liked the idea the author had and respect the way she portrayed it even if I didn't like it.
I had high hopes for this book. Everyone told me this was a charming & funny read & when I was looking through it before reading it, it looked very cute indeed.
Let's start with Violet (MC). She was the main reason why I was so disappointed. She was so immature and dramatic (and not funny at all ). I know that she was 12 years old (I think) but I still had to remind myself that she was a kid & that's how kids act someday but she was still too immature for me to feel any sympathy for her at all.
The next thing that bothered me a bit was the writing style. At first I liked it and thought that it was fun and unique, however as I read more it started to get a little annoying.
I'm sure that this book is enjoyable but it was not the read for me, maybe if I had been younger or older with more patient for dramatic brats I would have liked it.
I gave it only 2.5 * because I did enjoyed for a while but then I didn't. I also liked the idea the author had and respect the way she portrayed it even if I didn't like it.
February 1, 2020
I really like this book as it shows the characters as real people not perfect in every way. It's genre is family. I would very much recommend this book as well as other Susan Neilsen books. this book is not part of a series but all her books have references to other characters from different ones in which I like. I would recommend for over 12s. It follows a girl struggling to adapt to her parents divorce and them getting married to different people. I like the way it shows the different relationships from friends to siblings.
August 9, 2010
Dear George Clooney: Please Marry My Mom is not the type of the YA novel I usually get the chance to read because protagonists as young as Violet don't always appeal to me... but I'm so so glad I did read this one! Right from the get-go, as soon as I read the title in fact, I knew I was going to like this novel. I mean, doesn't its name already put a smile on your face? It certainly did for me... and that smile grew on my face as soon as I read the very first line.
"For the record: I did not mean to send my two half sisters to the emergency room."
Please, it almost had me begging to find out what happened. (And no, I'm going to tell you! You'll just have to read it. *insert evil laugh*)
Ever since Violet's director father upped and left their family to live the good life in LA complete with his own new family, Violet's mother has been on the dating scene... with not so great results. So when Violet learns her mother has started dating Dudley Wiener, she decides enough's enough and vows that no one would be perfect for her mother except, you guessed it, George Clooney.
Violet is the kind of girl that anyone could easily relate with and some of her antics had me actually laughing out loud. Her Magic 8 Ball conversations were a blast to read and the level of protectiveness she feels for her younger sister and mother, going so far as to even spy on her mother's boyfriends, is just so endearing. She's the kind of character who tells things for what they are and isn't afraid to go after what she wants.
Nielsen's writing is fresh and fun, keeping the tone of the novel light yet knowing how to get a bit serious when the time comes. Violet may be a little troublemaker with a snarky attitude (which borders on being cynical at times), but she's still a young girl who simply misses her father and wishes things would be normal again.
Dear George Clooney: Please Marry My Mom is a hilarious read that will have you cheering for Violet every step of the way... I know I did.
"For the record: I did not mean to send my two half sisters to the emergency room."
Please, it almost had me begging to find out what happened. (And no, I'm going to tell you! You'll just have to read it. *insert evil laugh*)
Ever since Violet's director father upped and left their family to live the good life in LA complete with his own new family, Violet's mother has been on the dating scene... with not so great results. So when Violet learns her mother has started dating Dudley Wiener, she decides enough's enough and vows that no one would be perfect for her mother except, you guessed it, George Clooney.
Violet is the kind of girl that anyone could easily relate with and some of her antics had me actually laughing out loud. Her Magic 8 Ball conversations were a blast to read and the level of protectiveness she feels for her younger sister and mother, going so far as to even spy on her mother's boyfriends, is just so endearing. She's the kind of character who tells things for what they are and isn't afraid to go after what she wants.
Nielsen's writing is fresh and fun, keeping the tone of the novel light yet knowing how to get a bit serious when the time comes. Violet may be a little troublemaker with a snarky attitude (which borders on being cynical at times), but she's still a young girl who simply misses her father and wishes things would be normal again.
Dear George Clooney: Please Marry My Mom is a hilarious read that will have you cheering for Violet every step of the way... I know I did.
May 31, 2023
EXCEPTIONNEL. D'une justesse peu commune, fin, drôle, c'est ce que j'appelle un roman parfait. Il traite avec humour du sujet du divorce et surtout le fait que chacun des parents se remarie... Dès 12/13 ans.
Je regrette de ne pas l'avoir quand il est paru chez Hélium il y a 10 ans !
Je regrette de ne pas l'avoir quand il est paru chez Hélium il y a 10 ans !
July 13, 2017
Ho ricevuto questo libro dalla casa editrice, dopo aver l'intervistato l'autrice a Mare di Libri.
Sono stata felicissima, perchè avevo bisogno di una lettura leggera per concludere Giugno.
Mi ricordava me stessa quando avevo 13 anni, visto che ho provato alcune delle cose che succedono alla nostra protagonista: mi ricordo la rabbia, il non voler accettare la situazione.
Forse mi sarebbe stato d’aiuto se lo avessi letto in quel periodo, ma leggerlo adesso mi ha fatto pensare alla me del passato con un po’ di tenerezza, perchè so che il più grosso è passato.
Adoro la presenza di Phoebe, migliore amica e figlia di psicologi, che cerca sempre di analizzare i comportamenti di Violet non sempre razionali e le fornisce una spiegazione. Così in qualche modo ho cercato di capire anche io perché mi comportavo così ai tempi.
Come anche "Siamo tutti fatti di molecole", pure questo libro l’ho divorato, perchè sono veloci da leggere.
Sono stata felicissima, perchè avevo bisogno di una lettura leggera per concludere Giugno.
Mi ricordava me stessa quando avevo 13 anni, visto che ho provato alcune delle cose che succedono alla nostra protagonista: mi ricordo la rabbia, il non voler accettare la situazione.
Forse mi sarebbe stato d’aiuto se lo avessi letto in quel periodo, ma leggerlo adesso mi ha fatto pensare alla me del passato con un po’ di tenerezza, perchè so che il più grosso è passato.
Adoro la presenza di Phoebe, migliore amica e figlia di psicologi, che cerca sempre di analizzare i comportamenti di Violet non sempre razionali e le fornisce una spiegazione. Così in qualche modo ho cercato di capire anche io perché mi comportavo così ai tempi.
Come anche "Siamo tutti fatti di molecole", pure questo libro l’ho divorato, perchè sono veloci da leggere.
June 25, 2015
What I thought of this book overall (read only this section if you do not want to be spoiled) : I really enjoyed reading this book. I found it very relatable to me. This book is about a girl named Violet who's parents are divorced and she has a baby sister named Rosie who Violet takes care of. Violet struggle's with her mom's countless boyfriends and wishes that her mom would marry George Clooney.
Violet was basically me in my childhood, which what I found so relatable in this book.
The things that I loved the most in this book is
Violet was basically me in my childhood, which what I found so relatable in this book.
The things that I loved the most in this book is
August 11, 2020
I gave this book 3 stars because it wasn't the best but it wasn't the worst.At first I found it intresting but then i found the writing style a bit boring and i found it was a bit over dramatic.Its genre is family and I usually like that but I did find it boring at certain points. Violet is a girl who is struggling with coping with her parents divorce.she has rosie her younger sister and two half twins . Her dad had a new family and she isn't okay with that .In my opinion if it was a bit less over the top I would've really liked it .I recommended it 9-13 s.
December 29, 2011
I loved this book it had me laughing, it had me crying, it had me questioning. This book would be one of my all time favs
June 26, 2017
I’m surprised reviewers aren’t comparing this to the Georgina Nicolson series. Dear George Clooney: Please Marry My Mom is a story of how 12-year-old Violet learns to cope with life following her parents’ divorce. But it’s in her not coping that all the absurdosity occurs. To give any details would ruin the surprises. Just know that grief makes people do weird stuff. Violet is no exception.
That’s what really resonated with me: how Violet’s (and her mom’s) actions felt so real. She wasn’t nice, she wasn’t rational, but she was hurting. Divorce is a family injury, and everyone in a family heals differently and at their own rate from the blast. There were a few cliches and some simplistic writing, but I overlooked that when Violet’s little sister ran around in only her underpants with a colander on her head, which is totally par for the course with 5-year-olds. I’m here for realism, folks.
So! If you’re in the mood for a funny, honest, unputdownable YA read, give this one a shot. Plus it’s Canadian! (I don’t know why, but that made it better. Robin Scherbatsky would be proud.)
That’s what really resonated with me: how Violet’s (and her mom’s) actions felt so real. She wasn’t nice, she wasn’t rational, but she was hurting. Divorce is a family injury, and everyone in a family heals differently and at their own rate from the blast. There were a few cliches and some simplistic writing, but I overlooked that when Violet’s little sister ran around in only her underpants with a colander on her head, which is totally par for the course with 5-year-olds. I’m here for realism, folks.
So! If you’re in the mood for a funny, honest, unputdownable YA read, give this one a shot. Plus it’s Canadian! (I don’t know why, but that made it better. Robin Scherbatsky would be proud.)
March 31, 2020
A good book, a little young for someone of my age as it’s based off the life of a 12 year old however the trust issues, family rivalry, mischief and obsession with George Clooney makes it a good read for older ages too. It goes to show how family dynamics can change and develop even if you don’t necessarily feel like they will. At first Nielson paints the picture of violets dads new life being bigger and better than the one he had when he was with her mom but soon that all changes and the reasons for love and staying together takes on new meanings. Even if that means defending family honour by punching somone, making step sisters eat cat poop and end up a little hurt yourself. A good read, little sad at the lack of romantic ending for the mother, or resolve for violet and Dudley.
March 11, 2023
I needed a story that was a lighter read after finishing the story of the Johnstown Flood. This one did the trick.
Violet's mom/dad have divorced and her dad has gotten married again and has a set of twins with his new wife. Her mom is still single and is raising Violet and her sister Rosie. Her mom is dating again which Violet doesn't like. Violet is the narrator of this story and of course she isn't happy with her dad's new wife and babies, but she also doesn't like the fact that her mom is dating either.
Lots of drama, most of it funny, but also a bit sad. Definitely fit the bill of something much lighter after reading about the Johnstown Flood.
Violet's mom/dad have divorced and her dad has gotten married again and has a set of twins with his new wife. Her mom is still single and is raising Violet and her sister Rosie. Her mom is dating again which Violet doesn't like. Violet is the narrator of this story and of course she isn't happy with her dad's new wife and babies, but she also doesn't like the fact that her mom is dating either.
Lots of drama, most of it funny, but also a bit sad. Definitely fit the bill of something much lighter after reading about the Johnstown Flood.
May 15, 2021
I read this in just 2 sittings. It was fast paced and the characters were very relatable. I really like Susin Nielsen as an author. She really pulls you into her stories. As a bonus it takes place in Canada. :)))
April 16, 2023
Such a cute book
April 6, 2024
It was a good book but it got a little boring while reading it but it was also a little interesting
October 22, 2025
it was a good movie
March 13, 2020
This is really not a book review I just wanted to say it's funny
April 24, 2012
Dear George Clooney Please Marry my Mom
By Susin Neilsen
Dear George Clooney is about a girl Named Violet Gustafson who lives with her mom Inrid Gustafson and little sister Rosey. Ingrid and her husband had a devorce so ingrid is constanly looking for a date.Violets dad lives in Vancover he is remarried to an actress named Jennica and they have 2 twin girls. On the other hand Violet is frusturated by her mom going on dates and she thinks all of them are losers.So Violet and her best friend Pheobe try to hook her up with actress George Clooney.On their way Violet builds relation ship with a boy named John Paul and Ingred gets a date with a guy named Dudley Weiner.
The book had a few flaws especailly at the end because it was like a big hole in the story it just ended. But some strenghts is that it was a realistic fiction Susin Neilsen did a great job writing about a 13 year old girl it was like she was the character.
I think the book was amazing it was halarious in many parts and Susin Neilsen did a great job writing the story. The book had barely any flaws it was one of the best reads I have ever read and I recomend it to anyone.
By Susin Neilsen
Dear George Clooney is about a girl Named Violet Gustafson who lives with her mom Inrid Gustafson and little sister Rosey. Ingrid and her husband had a devorce so ingrid is constanly looking for a date.Violets dad lives in Vancover he is remarried to an actress named Jennica and they have 2 twin girls. On the other hand Violet is frusturated by her mom going on dates and she thinks all of them are losers.So Violet and her best friend Pheobe try to hook her up with actress George Clooney.On their way Violet builds relation ship with a boy named John Paul and Ingred gets a date with a guy named Dudley Weiner.
The book had a few flaws especailly at the end because it was like a big hole in the story it just ended. But some strenghts is that it was a realistic fiction Susin Neilsen did a great job writing about a 13 year old girl it was like she was the character.
I think the book was amazing it was halarious in many parts and Susin Neilsen did a great job writing the story. The book had barely any flaws it was one of the best reads I have ever read and I recomend it to anyone.
September 1, 2017
The lightest work from Nielsen compared to two other titles I had beforehand. Unlike Henry and Ambrose, here we got a female protagonist named Violet, who tried to set her mom up with George Clooney (the title was pretty obvious) because after her dad left Violet's mom for another woman, serial dating her mom's having turned out to be disastrous. So Violet had this idea to find the right man for her mom - George Clooney.
Kinda "easy" and too-happy-to-be-true ending, but still I enjoyed the details Nielsen gave us. The moral of the story is pretty much about how to deal with grief, and to understand that there will always be two sides of a story. Also, to let yourself fall in love.
And Cosmo and Amanda from Word Nerd made a comeback! This cute couple had their continuation you surely don't wanna miss out on. I always love it when an author creates a continous universe like what Nielsen does. Guess I should read all of her works to see the whole picture.
Three stars and a half.
Kinda "easy" and too-happy-to-be-true ending, but still I enjoyed the details Nielsen gave us. The moral of the story is pretty much about how to deal with grief, and to understand that there will always be two sides of a story. Also, to let yourself fall in love.
And Cosmo and Amanda from Word Nerd made a comeback! This cute couple had their continuation you surely don't wanna miss out on. I always love it when an author creates a continous universe like what Nielsen does. Guess I should read all of her works to see the whole picture.
Three stars and a half.
February 1, 2012
What I have to say about this book, hum... it was AWESOME! Seriously I swear the author stole a kids diary 'cause it was that real! The divorce, the crush, the step mom, the boyfriend, the dot, dot, dot... (I'm having nightmares right now) Violet is such an awesome and funny chrarcter she makes everything over dramtic (well she did see get moms boyfriend in his under pants...) The plot awesome! It seemed like a roller coster, one moment it's all rainbows and sunshine then... klunk (Glade language) Over all I give this book 2 thumbs up... and a pinky finger for the heck of it. Loves ur favourite reviewer, Izzy =D
April 8, 2011
It has a very "DeGrassi" vibe, and in my universe, that can only be interpreted as being in the book's favor. Violet is a very relatable protagonist, even when (or because?) tends to give into her lesser demons and makes terrible decisions. Read it for its humor, its nuanced characters, and (always a plus), it uses the term "pop" instead of "soda" and repeatedly throws out great phrases like, "hairy eyeball".
July 30, 2015
I finished this in one day! I thought it was a lovely and endearing story! Love how all the main character starts to mature and starts to forgive her family! I liked the incorporation of George Clooney in the book! I learnt that we should not hold grudges against people because that will affect your life more and not to interfere in anybody's love life because only they know who is truly right for them!
November 5, 2010
Mixed feelings about this, mainly because the main character was so incredibly nasty in the beginning. However, I thought there was a lot detail in this short book, and I loved how it was set on Main Street in Vancouver. There were some scenes and instances that were funny.
I also loved the ending.
I also loved the ending.
December 20, 2011
I have finally finished the book dear george clooney, please marry my mom. I thought this book was really funny and it kept me laughing until the end. This book had a really good storyline, and the events flowed into each other.I would recomend this book to anyone who likes humor, and anyone that can relate to the stress of a parent divorce
December 18, 2011
It was funny, adventurous, and when i read the part about the Dad cheating on the mom(When he was walking out putting on his belt) it made me want to be there to slap him across the face.There book shows that you have to learn to accept things and they way they work in a silly way.It is a must read book if you want to just chill and laugh out loud.
February 8, 2012
Yeah yeah I know only 2 stars what the heck am I thinking. But, this book had nothing exciting in it and it was just too easy for me. Sure it was funny and stuff but in the end there's nothing going on, no real problem, nothing depressing or over the top but it was okay.
March 2, 2012
I really liked this book. It was easy and short, which i liked reading after Dust City. It was funny and kept me wanting to read more!
September 10, 2015
I liked this book, but didn't love it as I got very confused with all of the flashbacks and jazz.
But other than that it was pretty cute
But other than that it was pretty cute
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