{"product_id":"9781580898997","title":"Like Vanessa","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMiddle graders will laugh and cry with thirteen-year-old Vanessa Martin as she tries to be like Vanessa Williams, the first black Miss America.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 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 a 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis debut is a treasure: a gift to every middle school girl who ever felt unpretty, unloved, and trapped by her circumstances.— Kirkus STARRED REVIEW\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Charlesbridge","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47054696448240,"sku":"9781580898997","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781580898997_p0.jpg?v=1763802011","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781580898997","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}