Tori By Design – A YA novel by Colleen Nelson

Brrr! Similar conditions here, today. (Photo courtesy of wikimedia commons)

It’s a good thing it’s Friday! The weather here in ‘Winterpeg’ is pretty blustery, with winds gusting from 29 kilometers an hour up to 51 km/hour with 20 centimeters or more of snow expected (approximately 5 inches) by tomorrow night. It’s currently -12 degrees Celsius with wind chill temperatures feeling more like -22. Schools were cancelled outside of the city because of limited visibility and icy conditions on country roads, so I am sure there are a lot of hyperactive kids out there, happy to celebrate a snow day!

Since it is the perfect day/evening to stay inside and snuggle under the blankets with a good book, I thought I’d tell you my thoughts on a YA novel written by local author, Colleen Nelson.

I thoroughly enjoyed Tori By Design and found it to be quite charming. While I loved creating dresses for my Barbie as a young girl, I didn’t have the desire that Tori had for becoming a fashion designer. Fortunately for her, she has very accommodating parents, who move the family to New York for a year to give their daughter the opportunity to explore her heart’s delight.

Things don’t go as swimmingly as Tori would have liked. Being ‘the new girl’ is never easy but she never considered any of the difficulties that arise. Although Tori has typical teenage moments with her parents and experiences some disappointments, she does eventually make some rather grown-up decisions.

Colleen has created a likable character in Tori and manages to bring the busy, crowded New York cityscape to life, along with the high school experience. I like that the romantic elements in the story were not as important to as Tori’s focus on her career goals, although they did come into play a bit. Overall, I would recommend this story to any young girl with aspirations of becoming a part of the fashion world.

If you’d like to learn more about the author, drop by here on Sunday for my interview with Colleen Nelson. 🙂

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