Like Vanessa

Like Vanessa
Tami Charles
Charlesbridge, 2018 288 pages
Grades 5-8
Realistic Fiction/Historical Fiction

Thirteen-year-old Vanessa has always been obsessed with the Miss America pageant. She watches it every year with her Pop Pop and cousin TJ and they all cheer as Vanessa Williams is crowned in 1983. When a new music teacher, Mrs. Walton, enters the inner-city Newark middle school and organizes the first every middle school teen pageant Vanessa wants to enter. Even though Vanessa Williams has set a precedent, Nessie feels that her skin is too dark and her body too big. Vanessa's secret weapon is her stellar singing voice and Mrs. Walton begins to train her both in singing and in poise and pageant skills. As Vanessa prepares for the pageant she drifts away from her best friend and falls into a new social group, whose leader is not as she seems. Daddy refuses to grant permission for participation, so Vanessa, Pop Pop, and TJ prepare behind his back. Why is Daddy so secretive, distant, and against pageants? What is the truth behind Vanessa's missing mother that no one will talk about? Where does Pop Pop disappear to once every year? Even TJ has his secrets and Vanessa feels as if she's drowning in them. Pageant day arrives as the true behind the secrets are revealed and Vanessa discovers the real story behind her family, who her true friends are, and her own inner and outer beauty.

I remember the shake-up in 1983 when Vanessa Williams was crowned as the first African-American Miss America. I can only imagine how powerful that must have been for a thirteen-year-old girl living in the Newark projects. In this semi-autobiographical novel debut author, Charles, relates what pageant life was like in the 1980's and how it could lead to a way out for girls living poverty. A bit of a Cinderella story, Mrs. Walton is clearly the fairy godmother that every girl wishes she had and will serve as a great role-model to teachers, demonstrating what a game-changer they can be in the lives of their students. Hidden within the plot are themes of the true meaning of beauty, the destructive nature of secrets, bullying, the power of friendship, homophobia, and being true to yourself. A lot is going on with Vanessa, but the problems and the messages never seem to bring the story down. Readers will root for this character every step of the way and tears will be shed. Because of some of the stark realities depicted in Vanessa's life and one particularly violent scene I would not recommend this book to younger elementary students. The ending gets tied up a bit too neatly, yet not everything ends perfectly. Young readers will leave this story satisfied, yet with the knowledge that sometimes life is messy and we may continue to travel along with unfinished business. Although the story is set in the 1980's it feels only "lightly" historical and still is relevant to today's youth. Like Vanessa has a lot to say all within the framework of an entertaining piece of problem fiction.