• Home
  • Archive
  • Media Kit
  • Contact Us
  • May 9, 2025

The Madison Times

The Paper That's More Than Black and White

  • News
    • Local News
    • National News
    • International News
    • Sports News
    • Education News
  • Columns
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Life Lessons with Alex Gee
  • Events
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Lifestyle
  • Classifieds
  • Community
    • Middle Spread
  • Milwaukee

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Review: “The Wonder Wig”: Don’t Let Your Hair Define You

February 6, 2021

By Ana Martinez-Ortiz

The cover is Lewis’ latest book, “The Wonder Wig,” which follows a young woman’s natural hair journey. (Photo provided by Dr. Shon S. Lewis)

As innocuous as hair seems, there’s no denying it plays a role in a person’s identity. Hair is a defining physical feature, and it can reveal a lot about a person – if they’re sick, if they’re healthy, if they’re rich, if they’re poor and so on.

In this society, we’ve come to associate hair with success and in some ways, assimilation. But what if we viewed hair as nothing more than something that grows out of the top of our head – what would happen then. What if we worked toward seeing someone beyond their physical attributes and instead focused on the content of their character? What would happen then?

“The Wonder Wig” by Dr. Shon Lewis follows the hair journey of Brooke Bell, a young girl whose life changes after receiving a special wig from her aunt.

The story begins when Brooke “borrows” one of her mother’s wig to impress a boy at school. What starts out as a simple plan, quickly spirals out of control when Brooke has an embarrassing moment involving the wig during school. And that’s just chapter one.

Throughout the book, Brooke discovers that she’s not alone in her hair insecurity and that everyone has struggles of their own from alopecia to hair relaxer and everything in between. While the book takes on fantastical elements, it remains rooted in a reality that people around the globe know too well.

In the end, Bell learns that hair doesn’t equate to beauty and that self-empowerment comes from within.

Overall, “The Wonder Wig” is a simple yet entertaining read. It takes a complicated topic and makes it understandable and relatable. The main message however is illustrated in the first chapter by Brooke’s beloved Granny Lu.

“You have to be happy with how God made you first, and you’re already beautiful, whether you have short hair or long hair, wig or no wig…You remember to always love who you are first, before you expect anyone else to like and love you…Don’t let your hair define who you are.” (“The Wonder Wig”, Pg. 12).

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Popular Interests In This Article: Ana Martinez-Ortiz, Book Reviews, Shon S. Lewis, The Wonder Wig

Read More - Related Articles

  • What Would Martin Luther King, Jr. Say About the World Today
  • Rep. Myers’ Summer Reading List: Revolutionary Reads
  • Rep. Myers’ Summer Reading List #3: The ‘Girl Power’ Edition
  • Rep. Myers’ Summer Book Review: The Shattering
  • Rep. Myers’ Summer Reading Review: Selma of the North


Connect With Us

Become Our Fan On Facebook
Find Us On Facebook


Follow Us On Twitter
Follow Us On Twitter

Editorials

Karma Chavez
Amanda Zhang
Julianne Malveaux
Benjamin Chavis
George Curry

Journalists

Jacklin Bolduan
Brianna Rae
Aarushi Agni
Rob Franklin
Claire Miller

Topics

Brown Girl Green $
Young Gifted & Black
Universally Speaking
Ask Progress
Civil Rights

Topics

Police Shooting
Police Brutality
Black Lives Matter
NAACP
Racism

Politicians

Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton
Gwen Moore
Paul Soglin
Scott Walker

Contact Us

Phone:
414-449-4860

Copyright © 2025 Courier Communications. All Rights Reserved.
We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.