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School Of Charm (2014)

by Lisa Ann Scott(Favorite Author)

3.94 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

006220758X (ISBN13: 9780062207586)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Katherine Tegen Books

review 1: Eleven-year-old Brenda Anderson, better known as Chip, has always been a daddy’s girl. After Daddy dies, Chip, her mom and two sisters must move down south to their grandmother’s house in Mount Airy. Grandmother Nancy was Miss North Carolina in 1939 and Chip’s mother was runner-up in 1961. Chip’s sisters, Charlene and Ruthie will both enter the Miss Dogwood 1977 pageant. While out exploring the area, in order to escape from all the pageant plans in the house, Chip sees a sign for Miss Vernie’s School of Charm. Chip decides to enter the pageant herself, in order to become a brand-new Brenda who does fit in with her family.School of Charm is a Children's and Young Adult novel. But, this tale of a young daddy’s girl who has just lost her father and must now relear... moren how she fits into the family will touch the heart of any reader, whether younger or older. Scott paints the perfect picture of a family full of Southern Belles where a young girl, who would identify as tomboy, doesn't know if she could ever fit in. This story will encourage young girls to be who they are instead of trying to fit into a family mold.
review 2: We read this (actually the ARC) with our 8 1/2 year old, and it was wonderful. For my sensitive girl, parts of this book were a stretch emotionally. She isn't used to books with family conflict and a tragedy that sparks the story (the family moves South to Grandma's because the dad dies, and Chip doesn't fit in with the beauty-pageant culture of the rest of the family). But every night she couldn't wait until reading time, and not infrequently she would read ahead during the day because she wanted to know what happened next.I do have a small concern about how Dana, the Black girl at Miss Vernie's school, was described by the White main character in their first meeting. It's not a flattering description, and regardless of the admiration that grows throughout their interactions and the amazing young woman that Dana stands up for herself to be later, it was awkward and uncomfortable at that moment. Still, I wouldn't scrap the book for it.The book had a wonderful and engaging story, with both surface level fun and deeper meaning throughout. My daughter was so invested that she crafted herself a charm bracelet to play with, planned to be either a beauty pageant girl (with bracelet) or tomboy with turtle (and bracelet) for next Halloween, and while we were raking a few days after finishing, I was required to play "Charm School" where she was Chip and I was Miss Vernie, and we talked about all the lessons one could learn while working out in the yard.But perhaps the best recommendation from my daughter is that she read our bedtime reading book ahead, and from my husband and I is that when I finished it with our girl, my husband came in later and said, "So... what happened?" less

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