Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray


This started as one of the funniest teen books I have ever read. Imagine a group of beauty contestants becoming stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash. Yes, there is a dark edge to it - people do die in the crash, but everything else is so wacky. There is a fight about whether the teen contestants should continue practicing their pageant skills (the dance number, the all important question round, etc) so they will be ready when they are rescued or should they spend more time trying to survive (find shelter, food, etc). It seems like a simple question to answer - and it is for Miss Texas who is put in charge and decides the pageant skill are too important to give up now.

Throw in a bunch of hunky reality television pirates, exploding facial cream, a huge man eating snake, mysterious happenings near the volcano, and a possible international arms deal and you have story that can go anywhere. In addition to the storytelling, there also bios of the contestants, commercials and secret memos thrown in occasionally to give some background info and add more funny stuff.

For me, the humor tapered off as the story went on, but it was still a fun adventure with some strong characters and a message, too.

Click here for more info about this book from the Indianapolis Public Library.

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