Beauty Queens - Libba Bray

Beauty Queens
Libba Bray
Scholastic
ISBN 9780439895972
eISBN: 9780545388719

Libba Bray states that two different people said to her: "A plane full of beauty queens crashes on a deserted island. And … GO!" They were David Levithan and Ann Marie Anderson, both of whom we should be extremely thankful for. For this was an awesome read! The story is about the Miss Teen Dream Pageant contestants. They are on their way to an island for the rehearsals before the big show when their plane crashes on a desert island. A number of the contestants survive the crash, but none of the chaperons or adults do.

But the story is a little more complicated than just young women stuck on an island like a female version of Lord of the Flies. There are Reality TV Pirates, a crazy dictator from a country with an embargo against it, Lady Bird Hope, a former Miss Teen Dream and CEO of the Corporation who is all about the money and power, an Enviro Warrior looking to reclaim his tribal land. All these and more make the cast on this desert island very different from Gilligan's but extremely entertaining.

This book was very well written. I have already recommended it to about a dozen people who have all loved it. The story is so far out there and yet you find yourself cheering for these young women as they pull it together and realize they are more than just pretty faces. They are learning to discover who they really are and what they want in life. It was a great read. Highly entertaining.

Books by Libba Bray:

The Gemma Doyle Trilogy
A Great and Terrible Beauty (2003)
Rebel Angels (2005)
The Sweet Far Thing (2007)

Other Books:
Kari - Sweet 16 #3 (2000)
Going Bovine (2009)
Beauty Queens (2011)

Contributed to:
21 Proms (2007)
The Restless Dead (2007)
Up All Night (2008)
Vacations from Hell (2009)
The Eternal Kiss (2009)
Geektastic (2009)
Zombies vs. Unicorns (2011)