Gorgeous

Starred review from March 18, 2013
Suppose fairy tales came true. Suppose an ordinary teenage girl from a Missouri trailer park was suddenly on the cover of Vogue, dating a Hollywood hunk, and possibly in line to be the next queen of England? That’s what happens to 18-year-old Becky Randle in playwright/screenwriter Rudnick’s YA debut, an inspired mashup of familiar stories—commoner becomes princess, ugly duckling turns beautiful—made new. Instead of three wishes, Becky, rechristened Rebecca, receives three dresses from reclusive super-designer Tom Kelly, who knew Becky’s late mother. The ensembles transform Becky into nothing less than the most beautiful woman in the world—“Once I caught sight of my reflection I was riveted, hopelessly enraptured, as if I was watching the most impossibly glamorous car accident, or the birth of the baby Jesus, if Jesus had been the world’s first supermodel”—with a couple catches. With writing that’s hilarious, profane, and profound (often within a single sentence), Rudnick casts a knowing eye on our obsession with fame, brand names, and royalty to create a feel-good story about getting what you want without letting beauty blind you to what’s real. Ages 14–up. Agent: David Kuhn, Kuhn Projects.

April 15, 2013
Acute, wickedly funny observations on appearance and identity punctuate this sprawling, caustic fairy tale that cheerfully skewers the fashion and film worlds and their celebrity-culture spawn. Something magical will soon befall checkout clerk Becky Randle, 18, her mother tells her, making Becky promise she'll say yes to it. After her mother's death, the mysterious yet ubiquitous designer Tom Kelly flies Becky to New York, proposing to create three dresses for her guaranteed to make her the most beautiful woman on the planet. With, at best, average looks, Becky's understandably skeptical, but Kelly delivers, and Rebecca is born. Though Rebecca's gorgeous, confident and smart, Becky stubbornly hangs onto her identity (she sees her glamorous alter ego in mirrors only when others are present). Supermodel Rebecca lands a movie role alongside the star Becky's crushed on since middle school (veteran screenwriter Rudnick's film scenes are hilarious). Soon, smitten with Rebecca, the heir to the English throne captures Becky's heart--but which of her is he in love with? While Becky's voice and cultural referents are far too sophisticated and mature for a teenager raised in a Missouri trailer park, her fears and hopes are universal. A Cinderella story with a difference, Becky's journey to reconcile her inner household drudge and outer princess starts where most fairy tales end. (Fantasy. 14 & up)

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June 1, 2013

Gr 9 Up-An unsuspecting teen goes from a trailer park to the cover of Vogue in this darkly comedic tale of self-discovery. While grieving her mother's death, Becky is presented with an offer she can't refuse: a famous designer will create three dresses to transform her into the world's most beautiful woman, as he did for her mother before she faded into obscurity. Thus, Becky is magically transported into a life of glamour as the confident, stunning Rebecca. Naturally, there's a catch: she has one year to get married or risk losing her new identity, and she sets her sights on a prince. Though the premise sounds like frothy wish-fulfillment, the story offers biting satire on consumerism and the fashion industry, and an absurd send-up of the British royal family. Becky is likable, though her stream-of-consciousness narration often derails momentum, and the over-the-top humor sometimes misses the mark. The prince, angry after discovering that Becky is not Rebecca, goes on a hyperbolic rant with the threat, "I swear to God I will strangle you with my bare hands and then I will hurl your lifeless body from the rooftop, where it will land directly in front of an ice cream truck and the driver will use what's left of your gall bladder to create a repulsive new flavor called Apple Strawberry Compulsive Liar Swirl." On the same page, Becky muses that his words make her love him more. While some readers might be amused, others will be annoyed or offended, if they care at all.-Allison Tran, Mission Viejo Library, CA

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2013
Grades 9-12 After her 400-pound mother dies, plain-looking Becky, 18, comes across a mysterious phone number, calls it, and is whisked away to New York to meet iconic fashion magnate Tom Kelley, who has avoided the spotlight for 20 years. This berstylish Willy Wonka loved Becky's mother back when she wasbrace yourself, kida model, and so he makes Becky an offer: he will design three dresses that will transform her into Rebecca, aka the Most Beautiful Woman in the World. The catch? She has to fall in love and marry within one year or it all goes poof. What sounds like standard Cinderella-based chick lit becomes much more in the hands of playwright-screenwriter Rudnick (In & Out, Jeffrey). This digs deeper than the books it will be shelved alongside, featuring dense, visionary fashion creations; genuinely charming banter that make improbable romances probable; and veins of affecting commentary about the risks of beauty and the power of fame. An emotional distance from Becky keeps this from being a home run, but it's nonetheless a unique and impressive feat.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2013
After her mother's death, trailer-dwelling, average-looking Becky meets iconic fashion designer Tom Kelly, who magically transforms her into Rebecca, the most beautiful woman who ever lived. Becky-as-Rebecca becomes a model, actress, and international woman of mystery, and falls for the prince of England. The humor occasionally feels forced, but the satire's sheer outrageousness--and dependence on profanity--makes it wickedly entertaining.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)