What do you get when you cross Miss Congeniality and The Lord of the Flies, and mix it all together with Libba Bray’s unique brand of sardonic wit?  Why, you get Beauty Queens, of course!  When the airplane carrying the 50 contestants of the Miss Teen Dream pageant crashes into a deserted tropical island, only a fraction of the beauties survive.  What ensues is a rich exploration of the female psyche and social world, a biting social satire, and a fast-paced survival tale.  Where Bray succeeds in this novel is in the development of her characters; girls the reader despises on the first page become lovable by the end, and each individual beauty queen develops a distinct personality that jumps off the page.  The treatment of female independence and sexuality is realistic, refreshing, and empowering.  The political satire aspect of the novel is less effective and a little over-the-top, but the humor and characterization of the girls’ social world keeps this book a winner.  Plus, there are sexy pirates, and who can resist sexy pirates?