Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Pages: 390

Intended Audience: Teens

Genre: Adventure, Humour

Notes for parents: Scenes of course language, violence, sexuality

The Back Cover

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?

Welcome to the heart of non-exfoliated darkness.

What the Back Cover doesn’t tell you:

It’s not quite a “desert” island since there’s lots of lush forest and fresh water.

What’s good?

This is a well-written, often hilarious story of adventure and mystery with a little international intrigue thrown in. It’s also a clever tale of the pitfalls of consumerism, materialism, and beauty obsession. Each of the main characters is explored in depth and the supporting characters are equally well drawn. The setting is comical but fairly believable and many of the situations the girls find themselves in are far-fetched but entertaining.

Best part: “You bruised the petals of my man flower.”

What’s not so good?

Some of the humour quickly goes from silly to corny to downright stupid. Death is treated lightly—the girls don’t seem at all bothered by the fact that the majority of the 50 contestants died in the plane crash! And though it’s refreshing to see an author tackle gender issues and sexuality, many of these scenes felt awkward.

Worst part: Miss New Mexico’s tray head.

Recommendations þþþþo

I had a love-hate relationship with this book. At times it was brilliant, at other times it was ridiculous. I laughed, I cringed, I cheered, I rolled my eyes, and I both praised and admonished the author throughout the book. I’m giving it four checkmarks because I think it’s worth the read. It was fun!

Bray, Libba. Beauty Queens. New York: Scholastic, 2011.