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BEAUTY QUEENS
"Bizarre and brilliant"
– School Library Journal, starred review Teen beauty queens. A “Lost”-like island. Mysteries and dangers. No access to emall. And the spirit of fierce, feral competition that lives underground in girls, a savage brutality that can only be revealed by a journey into the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Oh, the horror, the horror! Only funnier. With evening gowns. And a body count.
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PRAISE FOR BEAUTY QUEENS
A 2011 Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist in Young Adult Literature • 2012 Audie Award Winner for Best Narration by the Author • 2012 Audie Award Nominee for Best Teen Audiobook • Teen Cybils Awards: Nominee in 2011 • Fiction Young Adult Goodreads Choice Award: Nominee in 2011 • Young Adult Fiction James Tiptree, Jr. • Literary Award: Honor in 2011 • Locus Awards: Four nominations for SF/F/H works • James Tiptree Jr Memorial Award: Honor list in 2012
“This is Libba Bray, a writer much more interested in subverting that paradigm—girl-on-girl psychological violence as spectator sport—than playing into it…Beauty Queens is a madcap surrealist satire of the world in which her readers have come of age – reality TV, corporate sponsorship, product placement, beauty obsession – but ultimately, it's a story of empowering self-discovery.”
– New York Times Book Review
“Whip-smart social commentary, surreal plot elements, and feminist themes come together in this bizarre and brilliant story…. The empowering theme of self-acceptance and the affirming message that women should not underestimate themselves or others makes this novel a potentially life-changing book for budding feminists.”
– School Library Journal, starred review
“Though the jokes fly thick as unplucked brows, Bray also goes deeper into each character to show how our culture's insidious focus on female perfection keeps girls from being who they are. … Escaping civilization–the best thing that could happen to a teenage girl? Sure looks that way.”
– Horn Book
“While the foibles of today’s media/celebrity/political culture are the clear target of this stinging satire, the teen cast is funny and endearing in its own right…The humor is both dark and madcap, including footnote asides and commercial scripts that keep the laughs coming.”
– Kirkus Reviews
“Bray spins this hilarious romp into an examination of femininity and feminism, sex and sexuality.”
– Booklist
“Out-there satire…Lord of the Flies with an evening gown competition, anyone?”
– Publishers Weekly
“Readers will come for the twisted fun and walk away with a whole banquet of questions.”
– Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review
– New York Times Book Review
“Whip-smart social commentary, surreal plot elements, and feminist themes come together in this bizarre and brilliant story…. The empowering theme of self-acceptance and the affirming message that women should not underestimate themselves or others makes this novel a potentially life-changing book for budding feminists.”
– School Library Journal, starred review
“Though the jokes fly thick as unplucked brows, Bray also goes deeper into each character to show how our culture's insidious focus on female perfection keeps girls from being who they are. … Escaping civilization–the best thing that could happen to a teenage girl? Sure looks that way.”
– Horn Book
“While the foibles of today’s media/celebrity/political culture are the clear target of this stinging satire, the teen cast is funny and endearing in its own right…The humor is both dark and madcap, including footnote asides and commercial scripts that keep the laughs coming.”
– Kirkus Reviews
“Bray spins this hilarious romp into an examination of femininity and feminism, sex and sexuality.”
– Booklist
“Out-there satire…Lord of the Flies with an evening gown competition, anyone?”
– Publishers Weekly
“Readers will come for the twisted fun and walk away with a whole banquet of questions.”
– Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review
