Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality

Since her parents’ divorce, Lexi’s main role in her family has been to support Mackenzie, her seven-year-old “beauty queen” sister. Fed up with Mackenzie always being in the limelight (not to mention the money their mother spends on pageants), 16-year-old Lexi decides it’s her turn to shine. Following a friend’s advice to stop hiding behind “messy hair and no makeup,” Lexi undergoes a transformation. Wearing longer lashes, makeup, and skirts, Lexi starts turning heads. Although she enjoys her newfound popularity and the attentions of a football player, she wonders whether her new friends, who appear to only like her for her looks, are worth having. This novel has its share of funny moments and will particularly appeal to girls who, like the heroine, see beauty contests as exploitative. However, there’s an acrid edge to the story, as well, which surfaces in Lexi’s bitterness toward her mother and means that some of the points Eulberg (Take a Bow) makes about the pressure to be pretty land heavily. Ages 12–up. Agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio. (Mar.)