Same Difference

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Author(s)

Siobhan Vivian

Publisher

Push Scholastic

Genre(s)

General Fiction

Age Range

12+

Release Date

March 01, 2009

ISBN

0545004071

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Portrait of the artist as a young girl, from new teen writer Siobhan Vivian

Emily is ready for a change. She's been in the same town with the same friends for a long time...and none of them really understand her art. But when she goes to Philadelphia for a summer art institute, she suddenly finds like-minded people. One in particular, Fiona, intrigues and challenges her. But there are some things Emily is going to have to find out for herself -- like what the balance is between life and art, and which is more important when push comes to shove.

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2 reviews

Overall rating

4.5

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4.5(2)

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The Next Harry Potter/Twilight!

August 19, 2009 (Updated: June 25, 2026)

Overall rating

5.0

Plot

5.0

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Reader reviewed by Iryna

Emily needs a change of
scenery. Shes been pegged as the arty girl by the kids in her school
even her own friends. Theres some truth to that&but theres also more
to the way she sees the world than drawing or painting. Nobody seems to
understand, and thats not going to change any time soon. So when Emily
gets the chance to go to an art program in Philadelphia for the summer,
she jumps at it. A new cast of characters enters her life&and suddenly
she has to figure out who she wants to be. Shes gone from the suburbs
where everyones trying to be the same to a school where everyone is
trying to be unique. The rules may have changed, but a lot of the
pressures remain the same. With wit and empathy, Siobhan Vivian goes
straight to the heart of a teen girls search for identity including
the pain and heartache we have to go through to figure out who we are.

This book should be on the New York Times bestsellers list.

This book should be the next Twilight.

But it's not. This witty, wonderful and truly remarkable book isn't making more money then the Harry Potter series. *sigh* What is this world coming too?

Same Difference
starts off with Emily spending the day with her best friend Meg, and
Meg's boyfriend the day before Emily starts her summer art program. The
first chapter is a tad uneventful which may make some people put this
book down but I still think that Siobhan Vivian was smart to start off
where she did. Even though the beginning was slightly boring, it speeds
up and it's important that we get a glimpse of Emily's life before art
becomes a large part of her life.

The characters in this book are wonderfully realistic and I loved them all. Even the people that you're kind of meant
to dislike. They were all just so interesting to read about that I fell
in love with them - especially the artists. Reading about the summer
art program that Emily went to was also quite fascinating and it was
refreshing to look at things from an artist's perspective. I even
looked up "Art Classes" in the phone book after reading this book!

When a storm cloud passed over Emily's life, I still couldn't stop reading this novel. It wasn't necessarily because Same Difference
is a real page turner, it was more to do with the fact that the writing
really drew you in to the story. It was fun, humorous, dark and casual.
It was . . . everything. I absolutely loved it.

Overall, this is a great, wonderful story that I can't imagine you not loving! Warning: will inspire you to pick up a pen or paintbrush.

Reprinted here from www.gardenofbooksa.blogspot.com with author's permission.

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growing up novel

June 08, 2009 (Updated: June 25, 2026)

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

4.0

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Reader reviewed by stephanie

Same Difference is a very good book. It talks about friendship, love and relationships in general. It's a coming-of-age book.

The plot is very inspiring. Emily has to decide whether or not she wants to become an artsy girl with her friend, Fiona, or remain in her old town, Cherry Hill, unable to move forward. She has to decide what it is that she wants without anyone's influence. She has to find herself and she goes through many different things to find out.

The relationship she had with Yates, her TA, was...awkward. There didn't seem to be much life between the two and it just seemed forced, I guess. Yates is always afraid about people finding out so because of that, their relationship was hindered. They never really talked much and when they did, it wasn't in depth. There didn't seem any real chemistry between the two and I couldn't feel any deep love or anything.

Fiona, the crazy girl who thinks she's all that, is Emily's new "best friend". She, to put it short, annoyed the crap out of me. She's such a faker and user. She thinks she's so cool and used Emily as a self-ego booster. I don't understand how Emily could have stand her at all. Fiona puts people down and is way too self-focused on herself.

Emily, though, seemed extremely talented and the fact that she didn't see it just made her seem really modest and humble. She doesn't like to get into people's face which makes her really likable. Unlike a certain person *coughFionacough*.

The ending was really cute. I loved how Emily was finally able to choose for herself what she wanted and managed to get closer to her younger sister which was really adorable, you have to admit.

Overall, Same Difference is a great read. A very fun and enjoyable book.

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