Miss Smithers

Rating:
Summary: Unusual...
Review: Alice McLeod is offered four hundred dollars to represent the local gun club in the Miss Smithers competition. Four hundred dollars to spend on clothes is a dream come true, especially when she imagines being able to stretch it all the local versions of Good Will or the Salvation Army. Added bonuses are she will get an inside scoop for the paper she produces and horrify her parents who strongly disapprove of the blatant anti feminism of a beauty contest and the principals inherent in a shooting club.

There are enough events in the contest to assure that almost anyone can score well in one or two of them. Yet, it is not the contest that will be the most educational for Alice. The reactions and politics that enter her life as she comes under the spotlight are a revelation. She will get fashion advice from bikers, find herself in a fight with supposedly respectable young women, and shock her parents by converting to a Christian lifestyle and chastity. While there can be only one queen, Alice finds there can be several winners.

*** Miss Smithers is unusual. Its satirical look at life is told from a first person point of view. While some scenes are difficult to imagine, that does not detract from their realism. Alice is in her own version of wonderland, strange but possibly true. ***

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore.

Rating:
Summary: A quirky fast read
Review: I found this book and was drawn to the cover because it was just so bright and beautiful. I didn't read the first one in this book but i wasn't confused with out it. Alice, is a teen who is just trying to become normal, this is really hard for her because her mom is a feminist/hippie and her dad is a soft core romance novalist. She starts out by entering this Miss Smithers Contest. (She is actually the normalist person there) This book was a very fun/funny book to read. (I can't help being a little bit biased over this book cause i myself am Canadian)

Rating:
Summary: Terrific read
Review: I loved this new book about Alice McLead, her family and her small town. I think Alice has spunk and a kind heart... just my kind of girl. Her take on the other contestants in the Miss Smithers pageant is a scream and I laughed out loud many times. Now I want to sign up for Karate... but I won't be going to a steak house.... Alice Rocks!

Rating:
Summary: Terrific read
Review: The book caught my attention because of the bright green cover, but I bought it because an author on the cover was quoted saying, "I laughed until my diet soda came out my nose". I didn't quite snort soda but this book made me laugh out loud. I read it in one sitting. Also it was really cool to have my hometown mentioned in the book (Prince Rupert). The way Juby wrote about teen issuse, parents, small-town life, etc was dead on, I had a ball reading it.

Rating:
Summary: a lot better than the first book
Review: This is such a creative and origonal book. I could not put it down! If you read the first book and thought it was an okay book, read this one because its a lot more fabulouse than the first. I love Alice's character and that she doesn't have a social life and i love how she is running for miss smithers! This was a great read a recomend this book to you.