School of Charm

December 16, 2013
Eleven-year-old Brenda “Chip” Anderson has always been a daddy’s girl and a tomboy, and after her father dies, the family moves from New York to small-town North Carolina to live with Chip’s stern grandmother. While Chip’s mother, sisters, and grandmother bond over the upcoming Miss Dogwood beauty pageant, Chip feels more left out than ever (and all the beauty talk doesn’t make her feel any better about the prominent birthmark on her cheek). Then she stumbles upon Miss Vernie’s School of Charm, where the activities revolve around getting one’s hands dirty, not learning the finer points of etiquette. While debut author Scott gets a bit heavy handed in the lessons Chip learns during her unconventional hours with Miss Vernie, Chip’s growth is moving and relatable. The author also makes good use of her 1970s setting, incorporating Elvis’s death and touching on racial tensions (one of Chip’s fellow students at Miss Vernie’s becomes the first black girl to enter the pageant) to give the story a strong sense of place. Ages 8–12. Agent: Jennifer Unter, the Unter Agency.

December 1, 2013
After her father's death, 11-year-old Brenda "Chip" Anderson feels lonely and alienated when she's transplanted from New York to Mt. Airy, N.C. A tomboy and "daddy's girl," Chip loved hanging out in the woods with her father, but now Mama moves the family to Mt. Airy to live with Grandma, who takes an instant dislike to Chip and focuses on entering Chip's two sisters in the Miss Dogwood 1977 beauty pageant. As former pageant winners, Grandma and Mama become obsessed with grooming Chip's sisters for the pageant, leaving her to grieve and adjust on her own. Chip's father always told her she was "perfect just being" herself, but now she's confused. When she discovers Miss Vernie's School of Charm, "free to those who need it," Chip enrolls, hoping to surprise Mama and Grandma by secretly entering the pageant. Miss Vernie assures her students they will be most beautiful if they are themselves, but Chip learns the hard way by trying to become a "brand-new Brenda." The quiet, gentle plot progresses slowly, allowing Chip to heal, form new friendships and assimilate Miss Vernie's unorthodox charm lessons before becoming a "brand-new Chip." Poignant, inspiring debut novel of loss, belonging and being true to yourself. (Historical fiction. 8-12)

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February 1, 2014

Gr 4-6-After her father's death, Chip, her sisters, and their mother move from New York to North Carolina to live with their grandmother. Chip, a tomboy, enjoys being outside, getting close to nature, and is unafraid of getting dirty. The transition to life in North Carolina is made more difficult by Grandma's expectations, her formal home filled with taxidermy, and an apparent dislike of the protagonist. Grandma, who was crowned Miss North Carolina 1939, would like to continue the beauty pageant tradition, a notion embraced by Chip's sisters. Family relationships are further compounded by an unwillingness to talk about the shared loss of their much-loved father. During one of Chip's outdoor explorations she discovers Miss Vernie's School of Charm. At this unique, almost enchanted charm school, "free to those who need it," the narrator meets two girls, Dana and Karen. Like Chip, they are unhappy but reluctant to share their feelings. Everyone, it seems, has a secret. Told in the first person, Chip's voice is generally authentic, though she grasps adult insights a bit too readily. References to the 1970s provide a pre-Internet era in which the characters develop and grow. Though the conclusion is a bit pat, the process of grieving and change is handled realistically in this satisfying novel.-Maria B. Salvadore, formerly at District of Columbia Public Library

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2014
Grades 3-6 Chip and her two sisters have never met their emotionally distant grandmother, but following their father's death, Mama moves the family back into her childhood home. While Grandma is fixated on preparing the girls for the Miss Dogwood pageant, nature-loving tomboy Chip balks at the idea. Ironically, she finds a haven in the nearby School of Charm, where kind, supportive Miss Vernie takes the 11-year-old under her wing. As Chip gets to know the two other students and joins in their nontraditional training for the beauty pageant, she comes to understand herself better. Chip's subtle transformation leaves her wondering whether the word charm in the school's name might have more to do with magic than with beauty. While this chapter book includes cultural references specific to its setting, North Carolina in 1977, it deals with universal themes such as emotional isolation, intergenerational conflict, self-knowledge, and grief. Simply written and engaging, the narrative gathers steam as it travels along to its satisfying conclusion.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)