Libba Bray Rocks!

Sunrise was at 5:13, sunset will be at 9:04.

Stormy, trees bouncing, rainy, gray. Kind of cool to have autumn weather with summer foliage.

Libba Bray really does just rock! I spent my morning on the stationary bike, just cycling and reading Beauty Queens for almost two hours. Libba Bray as workout guru!

Beauty Queens is very much a Lord of the Flies meets Miss America mash-up and every girl should rush out and buy one. That's pretty much it, the entire story in a nutshell. It's funny, with a great dose of serious and it's pulled off as only Libba can do. A full-on strip down of the media and advertising, and how manipulated we are by it.

A plane load of beauty queen wannabees crash land on a deserted island and have to use every bit of their courage and wiles to survive, forging new friendships, learning how physics works, using their gowns for water filtration units, completely unaware of the machinations back home of the Queen of Beauty Queens and her plot to take over the world. The island is filled with hidden soldiers who are working with TQOBQs on a new weapon using a female mustache remover. Danger comes ever closer when a ship of Bodacious Pirates is shipwrecked on the island, threatening not only to drive the girls apart, but to use them to fill their own dreams of stardom and fame and lust.

And the added feature, two for the price of one, hurry now and we'll send you the glitter filled Lost Ponies, of the book? It is filled with footnotes, I love footnotes. Value added, indeed.*

Beauty Queens does do a righteous job of telling a really fun story while exposing the nasty side of advertising, media, and gender politics. Kind of a velvet glove. Blue velvet, with spangles. Ages 13 and up. Scholastic. Available now. $18.99.

*See also Jonathan Stroud's Amulet of Samarkand series and John Green's An Abundance of Katherines for more great books with clever footnoting.