Bad Hair Day

by Adrienne Vincent Sutton

Gabby McGee is a 12-year-old girl trying to shed her “bad hair,” her parent’s strict rules, and her insecurities—all at the same time. If only she could change her hair from nappy, kinky, and unruly, to straight, long, and flowing, she could finally fit in. But she soon learns that going behind her mother’s back to get a chemical hair relaxer isn’t the way to do it. After a failed trip to the hair salon leaves her in debt, she devises a hair-brained scheme to pay it off, which involves her crush, a French kiss, and a bake-off. Is it just crazy enough to work? Is changing her hair really what she wants? Or, could the money troubles of a classmate at her snooty private school cause her to change her attitude instead?

Genres: Middle Grade

144 pages, Paperback

First published November 4, 2014

About the author

Adrienne Vincent Sutton received her BA in English from Penn State University and went on to work in various writing and editing positions in publishing, marketing, and advertising. Currently living in the Baltimore, Maryland area, with her husband and two daughters, she started writing fiction in her spare time. Bad Hair Day is her first novel.

Reviews

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Church of the Holy Comforter” 😁
A growing up story with a sweet, funny kid whose hair can’t possibly be as bad as she believes…

[Shelley Sly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun and spunky story that had me hooked from chapter one!

Anyone who has ever been insecure about anything regarding their looks will relate to Gabby McGee’s tale. It’s so easy to want the opposite of what you have, and what Gabby has is natural hair, while all her friends get theirs permed. Unfortunately, Gabby’s mom is adamant about natural hair, so Gabby’s stuck with what she’s got... until she hatches a plan that leads to another plan... and suddenly she’s in over her head!

Any great middle grade read has a memorable, authentic voice, and Gabby’s voice spoke to me so clearly, I might as well have been in the same room as her. She’s humorous and sweet, and even though she got herself in some trouble, I couldn’t help but cheer her on the whole time. I recommend BAD HAIR DAY for middle grade readers--both kids and adults.

[Consuelo Murgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I also wanted to have straight hair when I was younger, so I feel close to the protagonist and her little big dilemmas, because this is how girls feel until they find love and discover that there are far greater problems in this world.

[Tibby]

So hair and hair angst is a theme I see a fair amount of in books written for black girls and it unfortunately stems from girls feeling a need to conform to white beauty standards. A lot of picture books tackling this issue work hard to show girls that their hair is fine exactly as it is. But that’s not going to work in a chapter book. It’s not nuanced enough.

Bad Hair Day was an incredibly fun read and added that nuance needed to flesh out a middle grade novel dealing with how girls feel about natural hair. I had a hard time putting it down as Gabby worked herself deeper and deeper into a silly, and poorly thought out, plan to straighten her hair. It rang so true for the shenanigans that middle schoolers get themselves into as they try to act more adult than they are.

I enjoyed reading a book that featured primarily black characters with a black girl as the main character that was funny, not tragic. While I think Gabby is clearly black, I also think we see stories like these featuring white girls all the time. As always, it’s refreshing to see black girls taking the lead in a light-hearted, fun read.

I do have two complaints about the book. There are a fair number of typos in it. They’re minor, but they’re there. The other is that, while I like the idea behind the design on the cover, the font in the hair is kind of hard to read which might deter readers who are choosing purely on seeing the cover. I think these are minor and shouldn’t deter you from putting this one on your shelves.

A final thoughts, before you write this off as a book for black girls only (I see you librarians and teachers out there skimming over on this review!), it’s not. Besides giving non-black girls a window into this particular issue their peers are struggling with, it also gives them a mirror. The beauty standard doesn’t fit most girls, black or not. And even girls who technically do fit the narrow standard often have a lot of hatred for their own hair and looks. Everyone will enjoy the book for its message of self acceptance and for the hilarity that ensues when Gabby makes a mistake and has to find a way out. Be sure to purchase this one for girls who like light reads about funny social situations.