A Teen Mystery
Red Maple Award 2011
An Ontario Library Association Best Bet for Teens, Top Ten
Nominated for:
The 2010 Snow Willow Award,
The Canadian Library Association Young Adult Award,
The Arthur Ellis Award for Best Juvenile Crime Fiction,
The Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award,
2011 Battle of the Books Selection
2010 Best Book, Canadian Children’s Book Centre
“An excellent teen novel with interesting characters and a complex plot tinged with both romance and mystery. The whole is peppered with Grant’s wonderful sense of comedy. ” Highly recommended. 4 out of 4 stars. CM Magazine
“A terrific book for readers from Grade 7 up!” Fern Folio Edublog
“Nicely comic girl-meets-guy scenes, followed up with a satisfyingly convoluted mystery.” The Toronto Star
“Part mystery and part family drama, this book is an altogether enjoyable story of discoveries – self-discovery, the discovery of long-hidden family secrets and the discovery of numerous truths, both of a deeply personal and also an utterly universal nature.” Atlantic Books Today
“This book was absolutely delightful.” BookShipper Blog
“ A laugh-out-loud great read that deals with many of the issues adolescents face.” Edwards Magazine Book Club
I just finished Not Suitable For Family Viewing yesterday, I found that it was very good. I liked that there wasn’t any of those typical cliché romantic scenes between Levi and Robin (Opal). I very much liked reading Robin’s search in unraveling her mom’s secrets in Port Minton. However, I feel like I want to read more and see what happens when Mimi finally talks to Percy. As well as Levi and Robin, what happens to them? To me it felt unfinished. But overall I like the story.
omg omg omg omg omg!!!!! i cant believe im writing on your OFFICIAL site. i am a big fan of yours and i was just looking up your website. (i voted for your book for red maple fiction 2011
) i loved not suitable for family viewing. it was one of the best books ive read in my entire life.(and ive read alot of books) i really liked the way you wrote the story from robins perspective. and i absolutely fell in love with levi nauss. he sounds soo dreamy!!! so what inspired you to write this story? in your book, i read thagt you were one of the writers of the big comfy couch!! i loove that show, watched it all the time when i was little. anyway, i hope youll be at the red maple awards this year. i really look foward to seeing you there. please write back, it was cool writing on your website. thanks.
-sangitha (one of your biggest fans)
sooo yea, im dying to read a second book. what happens between robin and levi??? and does mimi marry percy?? and what about Embree, does he talk to robin after finding out shes his grandchild?? i wonder what the sequels going to be called. suitable for family viewing? or not suitable for family viewing, what happens next? eepp im excited just thinking about it.
-xx sangitha
I haven’t thought of doing a sequel to Not Suitable – at least, not yet. I’m just finishing up BETSY WICKWIRE’S DIRTY SECRET. Then I’ll need to take a little break so my brain can fill up again. Who knows? After that, I just might come back to Robin and Levi! Vicki
Hi, Sangitha – Thank you for the wonderful comments! You made my day! As for what inspired me to write NSFFV, it actually kind of came to me in a flash. (That doesn’t usually happen.) I was working on something else – or at least was supposed to be working on something else. In fact, I was procrastinating. I left my office and went downstairs to watch TV. There was a talk show on. The host was this very charming woman who obviously had a chatty, best-girlfriend-type relationship with her audience. She started talking about her 17-year old son – his part-time job, his girlfriend, the fact that he left his dirty clothes all over the floor – and I thought, “How weird must that be for the kid? To have all his ‘dirty laundry’ exposed like that.” I also remembered hearing years ago about this famous actor whom audiences loved and thought of as a kind of father-figure but whose own children felt distant from. (In fact, that’s not an uncommon story with celebrities.) Those two ideas together are what inspired me to write Not Suitable. Vicki
P.S. Thanks for voting for me!
This book is a good one I relly like It keep doing this
Thank you, Rees! So glad you liked it. And I amkeeping doing this kind of thing. I’ve just finished a book called BETSY WICKWIRE’S DIRTY SECRET and I’m working (or should be!) on the sequel to PIGBOY.
I love your book Not Suitable for family viewing! I was at the Red Maple Awards and I was extremely happy seeing you onstage to accept the award
. NSFFV was one of the most amazing books I’ve read in all my years being an avid reader. It was captivating, and stayed interesting ’til the very end! I love the way you wrote in Robin’s perspective ;D It made me laugh and the ending made my heart race continuously until the last page. I was so glad I found your website today! I’m doing my final Red Maple assignment on NSFFV and I’m ecstatic that I can put this website on my glog. THANK YOU, thank you so much for writing such a wonderful book that made my final red maple year a wonderful time.
-Debbie (:
Wow, Debbie! What a fabulous compliment! I’m sorry you didn’t come by and see me at the Red Maple Awards. I’m always happy to talk to people who like my books! Good luck with your Red Maple assignment. Vicki
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From Aly,
It was an Awsome book Vicki I hope you could make a 2nd one and it would be awsome if it got turned into a Movie I voted for it in MYRCA it’as awsome how it got to be a runner up
Thanks,
Aly
From Mal
It was a great book I just love it .I agree with my friend aly they should make a Movie out of it. thanks,
mal
Thanks, Aly and Mal! I don’t have any plans for a second book yet but I’ll give it some thought. I’ll keep you posted.
From Aly,
<(")
Thanks for replying to us. It would be awsome if it got turned into a movie
When I read the book I felt like I was accualy there you write really good
Thanks Aly,
From Mal
;)
Thank you for replying to our messages it was vrey nice of you to reply.
I think they should make a movie out of the book because it is awesome.
Thanks,
Mal
This book is one of my favourite books. It’s is truly amazing. I absolutely enjoyed it.:)
I am also doing a book-talk on this. Thank you for writing such an incredible story. God bless:)
Thanks! I hope you get an A+ on your book talk!
I LOVED the book but it felt unfinished. you never find out what happens when mimi talks to percy, or where levi and robins relationship goes, or even what anitas reaction is to all this. Im DYING for a sequel and i would be soooo stoked it you wrote one!!!!!!
A sequel! I hadn’t really thought of that but perhaps I should. I can see following Levi and Robin’s relationship but I think I’d need a mystery again too. Any ideas for that?
I’ve got so many people asking me to write a sequel. I really have to get on it! I don’t know what happens when Mimi talks to Percy or whether Levi and Robin will stay together. I’ll have to ask myself some serious questions!
hi Vicki is it okay if I call u that…?Anyway just in case your not I’ll call you MY FAVOURITE AUTHOR EVER!!!!!!!! sorry you’ll have to excuse my spelling iam not good at it so anyway i read one of your book called Betsy Wickwire dirty secrets. Amazing books where do u get ur insparation from or does it just come to u
Of course you can call me Vicki – but I also like the sound of “FAVOURITE AUTHOR EVER!!!!!!!!!!” I think that’s the best review I’ve had of BETSY WICKWIRE’S DIRTY SECRET yet. As for where my inspiration comes from, to tell you the truth, I work at it. I don’t wait to be inspired. I sit down at my computer or with a pad of paper and write down all the ideas I can think of – good or bad or even really, really bad – until I come up with something I like. Anyone can do it.
Hey Vicki! I’ve read Not Suitable For familyviewing many many times. I live in N.S and I was just wondering Port Minton is a real place?
Wow I keep thinking about a sequel! Even if you don’t write a new one ( I don’t want to put any pressure on you) , I like to think of all the things that could happen. Haha, I was thinking “Somewhat Suitable for Family Viewing” or “Becoming Suitable” are super-cool names!
Good ideas for titles! Now I just have to come up with a sequel…I’ll see what I can do! Thanks for your email. Vicki
I LOVE YOUR BOOKS! My mom gets mad sometimes because I read your books over and over again and don’t read other books that much. I can just imagen what could happen if there was another book. Levi and Opal could “make crystal jealous” (oouuuu) and Mimi could have a nice wedding with Percy and honeymoon somewhere fantastic! Or they could start out as friends. Robin could have Levi’s babies and such! :p
I am going to have to get to work on this sequel. You’re not the first person to ask for one! I have to finish the book I’m working on right now – it’s a mystery set in Halifax during the 2nd World War – then I’ll see if I can come up with something for you. Thanks for writing! Vicki