Like Vanessa by Tami Charles
Release: March 13th, 2018
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Source: Amazon
Like Vanessa Synopsis:
In this semi-autobiographical debut novel set in 1983, Vanessa Martin’s real-life reality of living with family in public housing in Newark, New Jersey is a far cry from the glamorous Miss America stage. She struggles with an incarcerated mother she barely remembers, a grandfather dealing with addiction and her own battle with self-confidence. But when a new teacher at school coordinates a beauty pageant and convinces Vanessa to enter, Vanessa’s view of her own world begins to change. Vanessa discovers that her own self-worth is more than the scores of her talent performance and her interview answers, and that she doesn’t need a crown to be comfortable in her own skin and see her own true beauty.
Review:
This was such a beautiful and inspiring book to read. It talks about how a girl overcomes all odds to achieve her goals, be accepted and feel beautiful. The first thing that made this book stand out was its backdrop setting. When a dark skinned girl wins a beauty pageant these days, we don’t give it a second thought as it has become a norm. However, the author strikingly portrays how historic it was when Vanessa Williams won it back in 1983. She show cases how it was a turning point for girls of any color to dream big and be hopeful of achieving their goals. Tami Charles’s style of writing is smooth and fluid and keeps the story energetic and fresh in this 80’s backdrop.
Secondly, the characters are down to Earth with many flaws that the reader can connect with. Vanessa is a delightful character that you just want to hug and root for from the first page. I cheered for her when she had a friend in Mrs. Walton and felt for her when she found out about her mother. I hated Beatriz to the core for how she manipulated Nessy. It brought back horrid memories of a bully who used to humiliate me in school in a similar manner. I still don’t understand how there are people like this in the world who seek to hurt others to attain self-satisfaction.
My favorite character of course was TJ. He is filled with positivity and continues to shine for his family while facing his own demons. I also loved Mrs. Walton as she is not the stereotypical preachy white teacher who wants to make a difference. I adored how TJ and Mrs. Walton genuinely supported Vanessa during her highs and lows because they had also been through tough times.
Another aspect that I enjoyed was how this book highlighted other prominent issues and blended it with the story. It talks about the repercussions of substance abuse, bullying and struggling with one’s sexuality amongst other things. The author doesn’t shy away from the harsh realities of life in these communities even though it’s a middle grade novel. However, I was conflicted during some passages as it was too brutal to be mentioned for the target audience. While I truly appreciate the author’s efforts for keeping this book real, I wish she would have toned down on the language a little bit. It’s a little shocking to read words like ‘gangbanger’ and ‘maricón’ mentioned repeatedly.
Overall, this is truly a special novel that I urge everyone to read. In today’s world where people are more into appearances and rating people based on their looks in social media, this is a story that emphasizes that you can be beautiful no matter what size or color you are.
