by: Libba Braypublished by: Scholastic Press
publish date: May 24, 2011
The fifty contestants in the Miss Teen Dream pageant thought this was going to be a fun trip to the beach, where they could parade in their state-appropriate costumes and compete in front of the cameras. But sadly, their airplane had another idea, crashing on a desert island and leaving the survivors stranded with little food, little water, and practically no eyeliner.
What's a beauty queen to do? Continue to practice for the talent portion of the program - or wrestle snakes to the ground? Get a perfect tan - or learn to run wild? And what should happen when the sexy pirates show up?
I saw that this book got a lot of negative reviews and I get it, but I LOVED it! If you haven't read it, get the audiobook, it's read by Libba Bray herself and it's fantastic.
Beauty Queens pokes a stick at all things right and wrong with the pageant system. This book is especially relevant right now with the transgendered Miss Universe contestant controversy. Beauty Queens also explores that very topic. Along with starting girls in the pageant system at very young ages which we get to see in our beloved show Toddlers and Tiaras.
Speaking of Tiara, she's my favorite character in this book. If it's ever made into a movie, which I fully support, my vote is for Alexandria Deberry to play the part of Tiara. She's currently on the show ANT Farm on Disney and she plays a similar role very well.
This book is very funny, very sarcastic, and completely unexpected. There are a lot of social issues tackled in this book that are done in a very surprising way. Because of that and sex and language, I would recommend it for older YAs.
I'm one of the people who loved this book. In fact, it was one of my favorites that I read last year. Well, actually, I listened to the audiobook too.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the book too as it was very well-written and I agreed with most of what was said. But I thought sometimes the characters were more used as talking points than as people.
ReplyDelete