Like Vanessa

Name: Like Vanessa
Brand: Recorded Books
Availability: InStock
Author: Tami Charles
ISBN: 9781501991318

Author: Tami Charles

Narrator: Channie Waites

Unabridged: 7 hr 39 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 03/13/2018

Categories: Children's Fiction, Children's Social Themes, African American & Black Stories, Performing Arts Stories

Synopsis

Middle graders will laugh and cry with thirteen-year-old Vanessa Martin as she tries to be like Vanessa Williams, the first black Miss America, by reluctantly entering her own beauty pageant. 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.

About Tami Charles

Tami Charles is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous books for young readers, including the picture book All Because You Matter (illustrated by Bryan Collier) and the novels Muted, Like Vanessa, and Becoming Beatriz. In her teens and early twenties, Tami enjoyed a taste of fame as a member of an all-girl R&B trio. They performed for Boyz II Men, BET, and Showtime at the Apollo, and had a one-hit wonder on the radio. After college, Tami worked as an educator for thirteen years before pursuing her childhood dream of becoming an author. For more information on Tami, visit tamiwrites.com

Reviews

Goodreads review by Darla on February 24, 2018

A big thank you to Charlesbridge and Edelweiss for an ARC of this book. This book is girl power to the max and I really appreciate the message it sends to preteen and teen-aged girls to be the best you that you can be. That sounds very cliche', but as we follow Vanessa Martin on her journey to be lik......more

Goodreads review by T.J. on August 27, 2021

Heart-wrenching, moving, and inspirational all at once. Who'd have ever thought I'd get involved in the story about a beauty pageant contestant? But this book has so much to offer. Vanessa's aspirations go so much deeper than beauty pageants. Vanessa dearly wants to be loved and to be considered bea......more

Goodreads review by Katy O. on February 02, 2018

LIKE VANESSA is a hard-hitting take on growing up in public housing in Newark, NJ in the early 80's while under the spell of the first-ever Black Miss America, Vanessa Williams. The main character is also named Vanessa, and her story of being raised by her alcoholic, but well-meaning, grandfather an......more

Goodreads review by Biz on February 16, 2018

Update 11/20/2017 There's a giveaway happening for this book rn!! Definitely enter it; this is one of my fave releases of 2018. yes I know it's not even 2018 yet but nothing can beat Like Vanessa, sorry -- "Everybody's got their rep... Mine? I'm like oxygen -- you know I'm there, but you don't......more

Goodreads review by Ashley on March 11, 2019

Like Vanessa felt like a blast from the past for me. Although I don't quite remember the eighties fully but I bonded with Vanessa having to be raised by a single father who worked a lot. This was a story that definitely gave me the chills. It is reality that many lower income families face. Having m......more