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Gorgeous | June 19, 2013

by Paul Rudnick (Scholastic Press, April 2013)

After several days of seeing Paul Rudnick smile confidently out at me from email ads, it was time to pick up his YA novel debut, Gorgeous. The galley cover was a simple, bold type treatment, but the finished jacket (still simple and bold) depicts one of the three magical dresses that changes the life of Becky Randle; the hilarious and amazingly relatable figure at the novel’s center. After her mom dies, Becky calls a mysterious phone number she happens to find in their trailer home.  She quickly finds herself whisked away to New York City, where the legendary designer Tom Kelly proposes a once-upon-a-time-like offer: he will make her three dresses that will change her life.

This is literally what happens. When average-looking Becky puts on Tom Kelly’s clothes, she actually becomes a different person—Rebecca Randle, the most beautiful woman ever to live, who quickly wins over Vogue magazine as well as the heir to the British throne. But when she is alone, the person she sees in the mirror is still the average, not-so-beautiful Becky. Through Becky’s sharp eyes and wry voice, Rudnick examines the culture of beauty and celebrity. Appearances aren’t what they seem, the mysterious Tom Kelly isn’t what he seems, and being beautiful may not be enough for Becky to live on for the rest of her life.

On the surface, this is the story of a teenage girl’s dream, but Gorgeous ’is really a first-rate satire.  Despite the fantasy elements (simply putting on a dress or three won’t suddenly make a prince fall wildly in love with you, sadly), the premise is just close enough to believable that it really hits home.

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