Revenge of the Girl With the Great Personality - Softcover

Elizabeth Eulberg was born and raised in Wisconsin before heading off to college in Syracuse and making a career in the New York City book biz. She is the author of THE LONELY HEARTS CLUB, PROM AND PREJUDICE, TAKE A BOW, and REVENGE OF THE GIRL WITH THE GREAT PERSONALITY. You can find her on the Web at www.elizabetheulberg.com.

Texan high-school junior Lexi is bright, capable, and funny. She is popular, but not beautiful like her seven-year-old sister Mackenzie, whose beauty pageant activities dictate the lives of Lexi and their single mother, who is obsessed with Mac’s success. Lexi nurses an unrequited crush on classmate Logan and a desire to free Mackenzie from the pressure of the pageant circuit. When Lexi decides to “glam herself up,” she discovers firsthand that the world does indeed favor the beautiful. She also learns what’s important to her, and it’s not the shiny exterior that wins her male and maternal attention. Lexi’s outrageous rebellion at a pageant will have readers both gasping and cheering. Although didactic, it’s a fun read and marvelous revenge fantasy sure to engage most young women. Eulberg has an ear for teen dialogue and creates multidimensional characters that both embrace and defy stereotypes. Parents are flawed but human, and the only true villains are pageant administrators. Lexi’s romances resolve in the most positive ways possible, with kindness and self-respect. It may be a little too good to be true—but it sure is satisfying. Grades 7-11. --Debbie Carton