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Same Difference Hardcover – March 1, 2009

by Siobhan Vivian (Author)

4.3 104 ratings

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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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Emily's life reeks of the ordinary: she lives in suburban New Jersey in a posh gated community and hangs out at Starbucks with her friends in a town where most of the buildings are old, and if they're not, they're eventually made to look that way. When Emily heads to Philadelphia for a summer art institute—complete with an eclectic cast of funky classmates and one dreamy teaching assistant—she faces the classic teen dilemma of whether to choose the familiar over the new and exciting, while figuring out who she really is: Emily from Cherry Grove or Emily the aspiring artist? (I look like two halves of two different people mashed together, she reflects during a trip to the beach. Is it possible to be a poseur in both worlds?) Vivian (A Little Friendly Advice) serves up the story with vivid description and dialogue; the author's talent for scene-setting and evocative imagery is especially effective for a story about a girl just discovering her eye as an artist and herself as a person. Ages 12–up. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6–9—Emily has it all: a perfect house, a BFF who lives across the street, and a neighborhood Starbucks that serves the girls twin frozen mochas before they order. When Emily enrolls in a summer art program in Philadelphia, what could go wrong? The fact that very little does happen is part of the problem here. The teen and her life are just a tad too sunny to be real. She navigates her way through the big city, the artsy crowd, an edgy new friend, creative demands, and a forbidden first love. All this is a refreshing change from her scripted suburban life. She dumps her best friend for the excitement of it all. Some of Emily's choices, the people she trusts, and the circles in which she travels are just plain dumb—even for a naive and sheltered kid. She works as hard to reshape herself as she does to create her art. And all to great success. There are no major crises here, just affluent coming-of-age stuff. The edgy artist, Fiona, whom Emily befriends, is the most interesting character and she fades out of the story. The premise of Emily's potential, her creative talents, and her spirit of growth and risk-taking are all well and good. It's the small conflicts that never seem satisfyingly resolved that makes Emily's near misses and great luck feel contrived and sugarcoated.—Alison Follos, North Country School, Lake Placid, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

On her first day of summer art school in the big city, Emily makes a shocking discovery: “I don’t see anyone here who looks like me, and that feels strange.” Though she never felt entirely herself at home, she is clearly an outsider here. Emily leaves her bland strip-mall and Starbucks existence behind, boards the commuter train every day, and dives into the artist’s life. Fiona, a bold and inventive student who draws shadows, takes Emily on as a pet project and new best friend. As the semester unfolds and Emily’s skills improve, she begins to see that the glamorous and gritty art life has its own share of petty cliques and drama—just like home. She navigates a sweet but forbidden relationship with Yates, her TA, and slowly comes to redefine herself in a way that is genuine and fulfilling. As in Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak (1999), the art is a crucial element and vividly described, helping develop the characters and plot. Emily’s artistic and personal journeys will resonate with teens longing to break free from predefined roles. Grades 8-11. --Heather Booth

Review

Praise for Same Difference:
"Readers who have wondered, 'are these the friends and the life I want to have?' will see themselves reflected in Emily's achingly real struggles, heartbreaks and triumphs." -Kirkus Reviews

"Vivian serves up the story with vivid description and dialogue; the author's talent for scene-setting and evocative imagery is especially effective for a story about a girl just discovering her eye as an artist and herself as a person." -Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Siobhan Vivian is the acclaimed author of Not That Kind of Girl, hailed by Kirkus Reviews as a “powerful, involving exploration of teen girls’ identities and relationships,” Same Difference, and A Little Friendly Advice. A Jersey girl by birth and a Brooklyn girl at heart, Siobhan currently lives in Pittsburgh, PA, and on the web at www.siobhanvivian.com.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ PUSH; First Edition (March 1, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0545004071
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0545004077
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 12 years and up
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ HL740L
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 7 - 9
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 1 x 7.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,650,789 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,082 in Teen & Young Adult Fiction about Being a Teen (Books)
- #20,474 in Coming of Age Fiction (Books)
- #30,299 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction

Customer Reviews:
4.3 104 ratings

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Siobhan Vivian

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Siobhan Vivian is the New York Times Best Selling author of STAY SWEET, as well as THE LAST BOY AND GIRL IN THE WORLD and THE LIST. She also co-wrote the BURN FOR BURN series with Jenny Han.

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Bookworm13:)

Reeeeeeealy Good

Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2013

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I got this book on my Kindle and I was reading it so much the battery died!!!! Lol but it was awesome. I didn't expect to like it this much honestly. i'm in the stage where I'm moving from "kids books" to "teen books" (its a hard stage!!!!!!) and this book was perfect. I haven't read A Little Friendly Advice or The List but I plan to. The author has a cool way of writing. She's descriptive, but not overly descriptive. She's straight-forward. I can really see inside Emily (the main character's) brain. There's nothing too inappropriate in here. it has some romance but really what teen book doesn't?? There's a few bad words, but only about five or six. That's the only part I didn't like, the bad words. The characters used them for no reason at all! Well, I guess that's teenagers for ya. But otherwise it is completely appropriate and I totally love it! I'd recommend it to anyone 12+.

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Sage Holloway

Great book

Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2014

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Recommend thus to teens, anyone who likes David Levithan. Good story about finding and understanding yourself and others. Creative and realistic.

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capecodkim

Kudos for Same Difference!

Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2012

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Siobhan Vivian's characters have a depth, which makes Same Difference truly engaging. The story line is relatable, yet offbeat enough that it doesn't mirror every high school girl in America's life. Emily is torn between who she thinks she wants to be - a popular high school girl who hangs out with the right crowd and fits in - and the person she truly is - an artist with a unique perspective on life as well as art. She struggles with and resists the opportunity to evolve, both as a person and as an artist. What makes the story interesting is the rich characters that Vivian creates. They are likable, flaws and all. They are so well developed that even once the book is back on the shelf, you find yourself wondering what has happened to them. I highly recommend Same Difference.

2 people found this helpful

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Hannah @ Paperback Treasures

Okay book - great writing, predictable story

Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2011

Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I had quite a few problems with it and am split on a lot of aspects, for example the main character, Emily. At times, she was so easy to relate to and understand, but at others I just wanted to shake her and make her stop imitating others and start being herself. Her journey was portrayed well, but in my opinion, Emily's progress in finding who she is happened too late in the book. At first, she imitates her friend Meg, and later, after going to art-school by herself, she imitates her new friend Fiona. That imitating Fiona instead of Meg was portrayed as progress, though, seemed wrong to me. Only in the very end does she try to be herself only.

I personally don't mind extremely self-conscious characters, but I've heard a lot of others say they're annoyed by main characters who are whiny and doubt themselves too much. If you don't like those kind of characters, this book isn't for you - there's a lot of whining and a lot of self-doubt. I don't usually mind that, though, as it's something I can relate to.

The other characters were okay. They were really well-written, but as people, both Meg and Fiona got on my nerves. How both of them blamed Emily and tried to manipulate her was annoying, especially from Fiona - she's supposed to be so different, but she can only be different if those around her like how she's different. I appreciated her character more, though, when we learned about her insecurities towards the ending.

The writing was great and vivid - it was so easy to imagine I was there with Emily, and teenage life was described realistically, both in her home-town and at the art-school. I loved how art was used to show Fiona's growth, and the aspect of the art was interesting in general.

The romance between Emily and Yates was okay. I loved Yates as a character, but I didn't like the romance as part of the main plot all that much. I would have preferred if Emily didn't have a love interest, as this would have helped her be only herself and not try to impress others as much.

Another problem I had with this novel was the predictability of the plot. From the first few chapters on, the reader knew (well, at least I did) how the storylines with Meg, Fiona, Yates, etc. were going to go, and except for the very end, there were no unexpected twists, which left me a little bored with some of the storylines.

Overall, this was an okay read. The writing was great, but the plot too predictable. If you like reading about insecure, self-doubting characters, you should read this one, but if you're easily annoyed by those characters, I don't recommend this one for you.

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Willow1190

a must-read for daydreamy teenage art lovers

Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2014

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This is an amazing book that is rich in detail and description, with an interesting plotline that drives the book forward. All of the characters are extremely well-developed and the reader can easily empathize with the main character as she struggles to fit in in her rich suburban neighborhood in New Jersey while at the same time trying to stand out in the colorful Philadelphia art world. The best part of this book is the picture that the author paints of both worlds, that allows the reader to visualize the scenes in vivid detail. I would highly recommend this book to any teenage reader from ages 13-20.

Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2015

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It had a good moral of being your self and finding out who you are on the inside who you really are

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