Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Saunders
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Teen reinvents herself in engaging post-Reconstruction tale.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
When INVENTING VICTORIA begins, it's 1881, and Essie, an African American girl living in Savannah, has just lost her estranged mother, a prostitute who owned a brothel that served prominent clients. She's working as a cleaning woman in a boarding house. Essie has a strong work ethic and great determination to educate herself by reading books. Her attitude catches the attention of an older woman who frequently stays at the boarding house, and the woman offers to groom Essie for elite black society in Washington, D.C. Essie accepts and christens herself Victoria. Victoria prepares for her future, makes peace with her past, and finds a way to give back to the community from which she came.
Is It Any Good?
This ambitious, engaging historical novel gives readers a glimpse of the diverse lifestyles of African Americans during the post-Reconstruction era. Inventing Victoria makes good use of the historical setting, and author Tonya Bolden effectively uses poetic language to convey scenes of intense emotion. She also successfully tackles the emotional price of "bettering" oneself, an issue that's relevant to teens and families today.
Overall, the novel is entertaining, but it sometimes gets preachy: Monologues included to provide historical details sometimes seem contrived. And occasionally, a character expresses explicit social commentary in words that don't seem natural.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how class, race, and gender roles affect the characters in Inventing Victoria. What do you think about all the things Victoria has to do to be accepted in high society?
What did you learn about the layers of African American society in the 1880s that you didn't know before?
What's fun about reading stories about kids who lived in another era? What are some of your favorite historical novels?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Sarah J. Coleman
- Genre : Historical Fiction
- Topics : History
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Bloomsbury YA
- Publication date : January 9, 2019
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 13 - 18
- Number of pages : 272
- Available on : Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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