This book is a gut-punch of emotional beauty. I cannot wait to share it with as many readers as would read it.

I received an e-galley on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

The synopsis reminded me of Dumplin' (a book I have yet to read) but with an own-voices twist. I really try to read more diverse books and look into lives that are completely different from mine.

Like Vanessa is such a book. The book follows 13 years old Vanessa who is a huge fan of the Miss America pageant. Especially, when in 1983 African American Vanessa Williams is crowned Miss America. Vanessa sees because of Williams that black girls can win too, can be beautiful too. (This just shows why diversity is important).

I really enjoyed this book especially the last third. The first part felt a bit slow paced to me but that might as be because I read only about one or two chapters a day. <spoiler>I really loved to see Vanessa's confidence grow.</spoiler> It was hard sometimes to see this girl struggle with a lot of things 13 year olds shouldn't worry about. However, the sad truth is lots of children do. It made it realistic. This book has a strong family element which I loved, too. Vanessa's family is imperfect in many ways but they make it work <spoiler> and in the end they are happy</spoiler>

I loved this book! I think this is a must-order for any public or middle-school library! Besides being a much-needed book with diverse characters and cultural authenticity, it is a wonderfully rich and multi-faceted story with a positive message about beauty and strength that will have readers reexamining their definitions of beauty and hopefully inspiring them to recognize their own natural beauty.

Set in the Newark projects in 1983, 13-year old Vanessa Martin, long-time Miss America pageant fan, is thrilled and inspired to see Vanessa Williams crowned as the first black Miss America (along with Miss New Jersey Suzette Charles, who was also black, as 1st runner-up). Vanessa dreams of one day being on the Miss America stage herself, though she wishes she fit the conventional standards of what is considered beautiful: long, wavy hair; light complexion, slender but curvy body. She sees her hair as too tightly coiled, her skin too dark, and her body too big and shapeless. But, an incredible voice, a school pageant, and a teacher who sees something special in her may come together to give her just the opportunity she needs to pursue her dream, IF she can find the confidence and courage.

While the central theme of this story may be facing fears and reexamining beauty, it includes several other issues that are all inter-related and part of the lives of Vanessa and her family, skillfully woven into the story and adding to it, rather than detracting from it as often happens when authors take on too much. We see the challenges of poverty, threats of gang violence, touching family relationships as well as difficult ones, how families are destroyed by drugs, and the lack of tolerance for those who were different. We also see typical middle school challenges of fitting in, being comfortable in your own skin, changing friendships, and learning how to recognize true friends.

This story has excellent character development, and I immediately fell in love with the characters of Vanessa, Pop Pop, and TJ. While Vanessa's father was a bit of an enigma and a somewhat unsympathetic character at first, I always had the feeling that his withdrawal from the family was the result of something painful and traumatic that had happened, that they were all keeping from Vanessa. I really loved the character of Vanessa's teacher, Mrs. Walton who turned out to be quite different from the well-intentioned but ill-prepared typical white teacher who wanted to "make a difference" but would quickly be overwhelmed and disappear before the end of the semester like so many others. The story moves along at the perfect pace; never dragging, but never rushed, either.

This story deals with some serious issues, but in an age-appropriate way that is not too graphic, nor bleak or disturbing. The overall tone is inspiring, challenging, and hopeful. The author includes some historical notes at the end about the Miss America pageant and Vanessa Williams, as well as about her own background growing up in Newark and competing in pageants herself, inspired like the character in the story by Vanessa Williams success. I always like it when an author includes historical context and background information. I recommend this book for ages 10 through 15, and I think many readers would find the themes relatable; fans of Rita Williams-Garcia's Gaither Sisters Series are sure to enjoy this book as well. I highly recommend it, and would not be surprised to see it as a Coretta Scott King finalist next year.

An impressive debut; I'm eager to see Ms. Charles' upcoming picture book and next middle-grade/YA novel due out in the next year or two.

The idea behind Like Vanessa is a good one, but I found several aspects of the book's execution to be problematic. The main character makes several offensive remarks about Chinese-Americans, and there is an actual white savior figure in the book in the form of Vanessa's mentor and teacher. But it's okay! Her daughter is mixed, so she knows everything about gospel/soul food/Black hair. Please. I was much more interested in Nessy's relationship with her mom and her PTSD, but that wasn't explored as fully as I would have liked.

Instantly relatable for anyone that hasn't seen much representation of people that look like them in main stream media and entertainment outlets. Hits a lot of key points of being in eighth grade: puberty, mixed emotions, family secrets, friend groups changing, self-esteem; but in a new way that hasn't been over dramatized like in many other middle grade books.

Engaging! Tami Charles has penned a masterpiece of black girl magic! With exceptional character development, it was easy to root for Vanessa and her family from beginning to end!

There is a story about Nichelle Nichols, who played Urura, in the original series of Star Trek, that she wanted to quit, after the first season. She felt she wasn't doing anything special on the show, and felt she could do better elsewhere. But Martin Luther King Jr. told her to stay. That her being on the show as showing girls that looked like her, that they could be more.

And, in the 1983, for the first time since the Miss American contest began, a woman of color won. Vanessa Williams. Black girls, who thought they could never be Miss America now saw that they too could aspire.

Representation is important. It is important because, while we can imagine that we can be something, it is hard if we don't have role models that show that yes, it can happen.

And while I had a feeling that some things in this book would turn out the way they did, this doens't mean that this was all slapped together. This book made me cry at the right points, and feel for Vanessa at the right points, and all the feels were there.

And this is probably, although as the author says, she did not come from quite such a hard place as the Vanessa in this book, she too tried the beauty content route, and knows from where she speaks.

Well researched (I like that in an historical novel), and well written, and just wonderful.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Vanessa has dreams of someday competing in the Miss America pagent, something she feels will bring her closer to her absent mother who once competed in pagents. She has watched the contest her whole life and has never seen any contestants who look like her so she feels it is not even a possibility. Then Vanessa Williams wins the contest and a seed of hope is planted. Maybe she should enter the school's contest, a huge step for a shy, bookish, invisible eighth grader.

At the core of Vanessa is her longing for her mother to return and help heal her broken family. During her time of training Vanessa finds her inner strength, learns about true friendship and discovers the truth of her family secrets. I love the unwavering support of Pop Pop and TJ. In spite of the fact that they each have their own struggles they help Vanessa learn who she can be.

"Everybody's got their rep... Mine? I'm like oxygen -- you know I'm there, but you don't see me. I shut my mouth. I make good grades. And when the bell rings at the end of the day, I take my butt home, close my door, and dream of a place far, far away from here."


Holy crap! What a book!! I try to stay away from middle grade realistic/historical fiction because it tends to have a lack of diversity and shies away from important topics/wraps everything up in the end with a nice little bow, but Like Vanessa shattered every expectation I have of middle grade lit.

This is a book that parents need to read. This is a book that children need to read. This is a book that needs to be read in classrooms, in homes, everywhere.

It's 1983, and 13-year old Vanessa Martin is full of dreams. Dreams of her mama coming back home, dreams that her grandfather will stop drinking, dreams of winning the Miss America pageant. And when I read this book, I was caught up in all of her dreams. My heart swelled and was broken with hers.

Characters are what make or break a book for me, and they surely made this book. The people in Like Vanessa are "hungry and angry and empty and wanting." Vanessa was everything little girls and boys look for in a heroine, and the struggles that she goes through are sadly still prevalent issues that children and teens face in America today. I also really enjoyed reading about her cousin, TJ. He loves his family, deeply, and his struggle to hide his true self is something that many teens can relate to.

Like Vanessa is a seriously powerful book. It caused me to examine my own privilege in a deeper way.

This book deals with a lot of important stuff, such as racism, colorism, classism, alcoholism, abusive parents, drug issues, and homophobia, but it does it in a way that is subtle enough for Like Vanessa to still read like a middle-grade book. If I had read this book when I was ten, I probably would have not picked up on as much as I did now. I would recommend for parents to read this book with their children so that they can answer any questions they might have. But don't be put off by how raw this book is -- it is definitely full of important lessons that many young children can benefit from.

So, whether you're looking for the next book to read to your class, or a book to read and talk about as a family, or, if, like me, you're wanting to venture out of YA for a bit, I would highly recommend Like Vanessa. It will leave you thinking and wanting more. It is sure to be the best middle grade, and surely one of the very best, books of 2018.

"Now I can see...the real meaning of beauty, and it ain't got nothing to do with having light skin and a little waist. All these years of watching the Miss America pageant, and I ain't never seen a girl who looked like me. And all I ever wanted was to live up to that American definition of beauty...But I can see it now. You can't buy beauty or pray for it to come in the form of what you see on the television screen. [It's] just something you gotta be."

I absolutely loved Like Vanessa. The premise is simple, but the plot is beautiful. Vanessa and her Pop Pop watch the historical Miss America pageant when Vanessa Williams was crowned. A wonderful Portuguese music teacher decides to hold a pageant for the young ladies at King Middle School in New Jersey. The rest of the novel is a coming of age as Nessy enters the pageant and learns to love herself. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to be an early reader in exchange for my fair and honest review.