Beauty Queens

Beauty Queens is the kind of book that might have you shaking your head as you giggle at the way author Libba Bray skewers everything from trashy TV (you'll wish you could set your DVR for Patriot Daughters, about sexed-up Revolutionary War heroines) to world politics (Elvis-loving megalomaniac villain MoMo B. ChaCha is clearly a stand-in for North Korea's Kim Jong-il). But while nearly every aspect of the book is exaggerated for humor, the core characters and the lessons they learn about embracing themselves and one another (sometimes literally...) are valuable, especially for teen girls who might feel as boxed in by society's expectations for how they look and dress and behave as these characters do by the pageant lifestyle.

The satire is assisted by a well-paced story that moves along briskly; the twists may not be wholly unexpected (Petra's secret won't be too hard to guess, for one, and the arrival of more castaways isn't exactly a shocker), but you'll be too distracted laughing at the various footnotes and commercial breaks (for Corporation products, naturally) to notice. And when you're done laughing, the book's messages about acceptance, friendship, love, and girl power will linger as long as a good self-tanner.