And I wanted to explore what it is to grow up female in this society.'Ī critique that involves ICEEs and Beyoncé? We're sold.īasically, the premise David Levithan gave her was perfect for exploring this subject.

And I thought, why is this going on now? What is happening at this moment in time that is so limiting for women? So I wanted to explore that. I saw that every single cover had something like 'Is so-and-so dating so-and-so?' or 'Angelina's beauty secrets and perfect body two weeks after baby!' There wasn't one with 'Beyoncé is at the top of the Forbes list and makes awesome new record'. 'One day I was at the 7-11, where all my great ideas come, I was waiting for the icey machine and I saw the tabloid stories. In a College Candy interview on the book, Bray explains it like this: But don't hit snooze the second you see the word 'critique': she does it with enough pop culture savvy and satire to keep us hooked.ĭon't believe us? Let her say it herself. Spoiler alert: to serve up a serious dose of critique to a problem in society. Very, very far.īut why did she run in this particular direction? Why build commercial scripts, footnotes, and an evil corporation into the story? Why does she make the pageant contestants work together, instead of choosing to have them tear each other apart? And…go!'Īccording to the Acknowledgments, Beauty Queenssupposedly began when Libba Bray's editor, David Levithan (also a well-known author) gave her that very challenge.Ĭhallenge accepted, sir. 'A plane full of beauty queens crashes on a deserted island.

Beauty queens by libba bray