I struggled to keep my outrage in check as I read about tomboy Chip and her judgmental Grandma, who appears bent on tearing Chip down and making her feel worthless. Led by the supportive and quirky Miss Vernie, Chip struggles to fit into the straight-laced, judgmental southern society along with two fellow classmates (one messy and overweight, the other African American) and learns lasting lessons about being true to yourself and acceptance. She likes who she is, the outdoorsy girl who loved her daddy and is determined to remember him no matter what, but what if the only way to make people, including her own family, like and love her is to be someone else? When Chip stumbles across Miss Vernie’s School of Charm, she decides that she’s willing to change to fit into her new life without father. As her perfect sisters prepare for the annual Miss Dogwood pageant – a pageant both Chip’s mother and grandmother won a swell – Chip feels even more left out. It doesn’t take long to figure out that Grandma doesn’t at all approve of Chip, who’s entirely too much like her Yankee father.

(Feb.Chip has always been a tomboy and daddy’s girl and she’s never felt even the littlest bit self conscious about it… until her father dies and her mother decides to move Chip and her two sisters down south to live with her mother, Chip’s grandma. 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. 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. 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 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). 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.

School of Charm by Lisa Ann Scott