This book is the definition of satire and black humor. If you're easily offended, this book is not for you. It's tongue-in-cheek, it's darkly humorous, and it's absolutely fa-bu-lous *snaps finger*. It confronts the truth behind our daily lives...it deals with issues of race, sexism, and stereotypes, while managing to retain a light, sarcastic tone. The main characters in this book are all beauty pageant competitors, but rest assured, they are strong feminist types, down to the take-charge Miss Texas, who is a hell of a lot tougher than her big breasts and blonde hair would imply. 
 Taylor stood in a perfect three-quarters stance, arms hanging easily at her sides. "I have been class president three years in a row, homecoming queen, a National Merit Scholar, and a member of the National Honor Society, and I am a proud, card-carrying member of FAF -- Femmes and Firearms. I can shoot a thirty-aught-six as well as a nine-millimeter and a Pink Lady paint gun. Last year, I took down my first buck, which I cleaned, filleted, and vacuum sealed, and with my taxidermy skills, I stuffed the head and used the antlers as a supercute jewelry tree, which I plan to market for the Armchair Shopping Network in the spring. That is American ingenuity. It's what makes this country great, and if elected, I would be proud to serve. Thank you." 
 Some brilliant genius decided to hold a pageant on a far-off island, and the 50 contestants of the Miss Teen Dream pageant, along with the army needed to maintain them, are being flown there. The only problem is that the plane crashes onto a deserted island and pretty much everyone dies. The surviving contestants will have to, well, survive on a delightful tropical island using their own wits, ingenuity, and pageant-approved talents. The contestants range from the confident and strong leader, Perky Miss Texas...to Adina, who had a plan before it came crashing down along with the plane. 
 Adina had entered ... but for her own secret reasons. She would smile and pose, and when the time was right, she would show everyone what a joke this was -- what a joke her mom's life was. How stupid the girls in her high school were for believing in this beauty and happily-ever-after crap. She would use the money from the publication of her expose to buy that drum kit herself. Maybe she'd even write a song about the whole experience. "Artificial Girl." Or "Teen Dream Armageddon." Yeah. Adina liked the sound of that. She would be a beauty pageant Che Guevara7. 
 The situations within the book are absolutely outrageous and ludicrous, and the "can-do" attitude that is pervasive throughout the book makes it seem more insane, but I loved every single moment. 
 Miss New Mexico stared, dumbfounded. "Stand out? Stand out! I have a freaking tray stuck in my forehead!" She broke into fresh sobs. 
 Taylor clapped for attention. "Miss New Mexico, let's not get all down in the bummer basement where the creepy things live. There are people in heathen China who don't even have airline trays. We have a lot to be grateful for." 
 The girls not only have to survive, but must maintain their pageant form by constantly practicing and being in top form for the competition once they're rescued... 
 "Ohmigosh. No food at all." Tiara sank down on the sand as if the full weight of their predicament had finally hit her. She blinked back tears. And then that megawatt smile that belonged on cereal boxes across the nation reappeared. "I am going to be so superskinny by pageant time!" 
 But cold, harsh reality soon sets in. They're probably fucked. 
 "I'm so hungry. Even hungrier than when my mom put me on that grapefruit and hot sauce diet before the Miss Tupelo pageant last year." 
 "I've done that diet," Nicole said. 
 Shanti nodded. "Me, too. Except without the grapefruit." 
 Tiara's eyes filled with tears. "All those years of starving myself and now I'm really starving." 
 "Feels like we've been in training for the wrong pageant," Nicole said with a sigh. 
 Their bellies ached with hunger, and the earlier thrill of losing a few pounds before pageant time had been replaced with a terrible, desperate longing for food. 
 I know that from the quotes, the book seems very lighthearted and silly, don't let that fool you, because this book deals with a lot of serious issues, albeit in a very offhanded manner. The issue of race is a particularly noticeable one, it's mentioned sometimes in a flippant manner. 
 For a second, Nicole wasn't sure that she should go with these white girls. They sounded like they'd gone straight-up crazy, and the only other brown girl was giving her an eyeful of attitude. Nicole did what she'd been taught since she was little and her parents had moved into an all-white neighborhood: She smiled and made herself seem as friendly and nonthreatening as possible. 
 But that little quote right there is the harsh reality of being black or minority in America. African-Americans have to blend in. They have to appear cultured. They have to be non-threatening in order to be accepted. This book also confronts the double-standards of race. 
 "You don't think the pageant's a little racist? I mean, in the whole history of the pageant, an African-American girl has only won once -- Sherry Sparks." 
 In the forty-year history of the Miss Teen Dream Pageant, she was the only African-American winner -- until it was revealed that Sherry had once shoplifted an eye shadow from an Easy Rx store and she was drummed out in shame. It didn't matter that in the years since then, two white contestants had been disqualified for sexy phone photos, or that last year's winner, Miss Florida, had been forced to apologize when it was discovered that she had gotten drunk at a frat party and a video surfaced of her sloppily twirling batons in her underwear and bra. No, it was still Sherry Sparks they talked about. 
 This was a hilarious, darkly humorous, witty, and altogether fantastic book.