Modelland

August 22, 2011
Supermodel Banks makes her YA debut with a campy and warped take on the world of modeling, a pastiche influenced by everyone from Cresswell to Dahl and Rowling. On an alternate Earth (countries have names like “Didgeridoo” and “Cappuccina”), modeling is both an obsession and a magical art, and only a handful are chosen each year to attend Modelland and train to be an elite “Intoxibella.” Tookie De La Crème, 15, has “multiple personality disorder” hair and emotionally abusive parents; generally invisible to her classmates, Tookie assumes she won’t get picked. Much to her shock, she’s chosen (by a Scout who is actually famed supermodel Ci~L) and attends the academy with new friends (and fellow outcasts) Shiraz, Dylan, and Ross. Banks throws a nonstop barrage of surrealism and wackiness at her characters: the male model academy is “Bestosterone”; Golden Ticket–like items called “SM-IZEs”—one of many winks to Top Model fans—help girls get into Modelland, etc. And if the resulting novel is overlong, the combination of absurdity, social commentary, and familiar tropes makes it an enjoyable guilty pleasure. Ages 12–up.

November 1, 2011

Gr 9 Up-Tookie De La Creme is a Forgetta-Girl. With her awkward body, large forehead, mismatched eyes, and wiry hair, she is the girl everyone, including her parents, would rather not be around. Despite her flaws, she is selected to be a Bella in Modelland over her more attractive, though less intelligent, sister. Only the most beautiful and poised girls are selected to train to possibly become one of the elite seven IntoxiBellas. Along with three other misfit Bellas, Tookie struggles through courses such as CaraCaraCara and Run Away Intensive while dodging the dangerous obstacles of Catwalk Corridor and Thigh-High Boot Camp. The odd behavior of the mysterious and infamous IntoxiBella, Ci~L, convinces the misfit group of Unicas that their lives are in danger and they hatch a plan to flea Modelland. Tookie is heartbroken over her impending departure because she has made new friends and started a relationship with a young Bestostero, Bravo. This first installment in a projected trilogy drags on for 563 pages. The world-building is weak with labels that merely misspell or combine common words. The dialogue is often stilted, and the characters' voices are indistinguishable. While the message about nonstandard forms of beauty is a pertinent one, the heavy-handed treatment becomes tiresome and predictable. This tome may only appeal to teens who are expressly interested in Banks's efforts to redefine beauty.-Lynn Rashid, Marriotts Ridge High School, Marriottsville, MD

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