Journal Entry 1 by demarie from Troy, Michigan USA on Saturday, July 13, 2002

From Booklist
Viva is a hip, independent 16-year-old English girl who thinks she's all grown up. It's no wonder: her devoted uncle Manny gives her the freedom to do pretty much what she wants. He's also equipped her with an encyclopedic background in pop culture, especially rock groups and vintage Hollywood stars, whose names pepper Viva's first-person narration. A troubled musician brings out Viva's softer, nurturing side, and when the young man commits suicide, she's devastated. A trip to L.A. with her two best pals--wild, sexy Treena and British pop-star Ray--is supposed to help her mend, and it does until she walks in on her friends having sex. If the hip allusions ("trees stripped to their Helmut Lang basics") become tiresome, and if Forrest overreaches in her zeal to make Viva blaseabout her life, the characters are energetic and funky, and there's some wonderfully dark comedy. A raucous if ultimately familiar take on teenage angst. Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved