beauty pageants

Full disclosure: I'm a middle-aged, married mom who's a teeny, tiny bit obsessed with teen fiction. Not that I'm a creeper or anything. But my teenage angst phase is more like a personality trait. I relate to people who feel uncomfortable and awkward. People who lack confidence and discipline. People who float through life like they haven't got a clue. More often than not, that's not adults. Something about growing up in our society makes people cocky. It changes people. It makes them think they're some kind of authority figure or expert on life. Not me. That's why I like teen fiction.

 
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“I think maybe it’s the things we don’t want to talk about that are the things people most want to hear.” 

Willowdean Dickson is many things. She’s a girl for one. She’s from South Texas. She works in a fast food joint called Harpy’s with an absolute dreamboat of a boy. She and her best friend Ellen are probably the biggest teenage fans of Miss Dolly Parton. She’s absolutely wise beyond her years, and she’s fat. As Willow says, “it’s not a cuss word. It’s not an insult. At least not when I say it.”

Willow starts her summer off just as she planned. She’s going to go to the pool with Ellen

Do you ever wonder what would happen if several teenage beauty contestants crashed on a seemingly deserted island? This book is about survival:  Can a bunch of pretty teenagers work together or will they die trying?  Then there are the countless others who are sure the teenagers won’t survive more than a couple of weeks. There are reality show pirates who become shipwrecked and large man-eating snakes. This book is full of interesting characters and bizarre plot twists. Libba Bray’s Beauty Queens  is humorous with a message for everyone. But wait, there is more—included in the book are