Fairest of Them All

by Jan Blazanin

If life were a fairy tale, Oribella Bettencourt would have a "happily ever after" kind of future ahead of her. A Hollywood producer has come to Des Moines in search of a perfectly modern Princess Rapunzel, and Ori -- a model, dancer, and star of the beauty pageant circuit -- lands the part. And why shouldn't she? With her hardworking, self-sacrifi cing mother guiding her career, Ori is stunning, dedicated, poised...and then there's her hair. Breathtakingly...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416579931
• ISBN13: 9781416579939
• Release Date: April 2009
• Publisher: Pkbk - Pocket Books
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.0" x 7.1"
• Age Range: 14 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 9 to 12

Customer Reviews

What If

What if your dream were almost within your grasp, only to slowly drift away? What if your life-long goal suddenly seemed unattainable? How would you feel? What would you do? Ms. Blazanin presents just such a problem for 15-year-old Oribella Bettencourt. A life-altering change forces Ori to forgo her prize, face rejection from her mother, and ridicule from her peers. With the support and friendship from someone she'd least expect, she comes to recognize what really is important. Ms. Blazanin does an excellent job painting Ori's psychological journey. Highly recommended.

Great storyline

Oribella is a beauty queen who lands her first Hollywood movie. This would appear to be a perfect fit for her based on her looks. But life isn't a fairy tale. At first it appears to be a story where the beauty queen gets what she deserves when her looks fade with the loss of her hair. That's a predictable storyline but I was glad to see the story take a twist and show how a misfit who has it all must cope as a regular person without being too syrupy. FAIREST OF THE ALL is a great read.

The Big Bad

Teen beauty queen, Oribella Bettincourt, is a focused, driven, easy-to-hate-because-she's-beautiful girl. Yes, maybe she's a little lonely. But she's on the verge of movie stardom. Until the Big Bad (hair day, that is). Eventually, she loses everything: her hair, her mother, her modeling gigs, her movie contract, her agent. And this is stressful. But what really kept me deeply engrossed in this story was Ori's attempt at metamorphosis. Can she become a friend? Be part of a group? Play as a team member? Will it make her truly happy? The story is never predictable, and the ending feels just right. A good read. A worthwhile read. I loved it.

wendyd

Oribella isa beauty queen, model, and dancer who lands her first Hollywood movie: the happily-ever-after life to go with her fairy tale looks. The sudden onset of an abscure medical condition threatens everything she has worked for and thinks important. FAIREST OF THEM ALL is a delightful exploration of beauty, self-image, and friendship. A must read for teens and tweens.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

Oribella Bettencourt has it all. At least looking outside in, everyone assumes she's got it all. Ever since she was a toddler, she's been groomed to be a star. She has taken dance and modeling classes. She's gorgeous, and her crowning glory (literally her Crowning Glory, as she won the title in a pageant) is her long golden tresses. Her lovely hair has even landed her a supporting actress role in a Razzi's Tale. Her hair was so important in landing her the role that there is a clause in her contract prohibiting her to do anything to her hair. She's going to be a star - and all of her mother's sacrifices will have been worth it. When Oribella notices a few small clumps of hair have fallen out, at first she panics. But she reads up on hair loss and chalks it up to stress and poor nutrition. She pampers her hair even more, putting as little pressure on it as possible, and renews her efforts to reduce stress and eat better. After all, models have to stay thin and are known to constantly be dieting. But when Gypsy, a rival at her dance class, makes a comment about a bald spot on Oribella's scalp, her nightmare just begins. When Oribella finally confesses to her mother, months after the initial hair loss, they embark on rounds of treatments to reverse her alopecia (hair loss.) Just as her hair is unraveling from her head, Oribella's dreams are coming apart at the seams. Her bright future was within her grasp, only to be ripped apart at the finish line. With her future changed, Oribella and her mother begin to dance around each other. Neither knows where they fit into each other's world, with the life of pageants and acting now gone. But for Oribella, the loss of her dreams isn't the total end. She realizes she is lonely and longs for a real teenage life. She is thrust into a world she's unfamiliar with...high school. Previously, she attended school simply to keep the authorities happy. But she was unconcerned with fitting in or achieving good grades. After all, if she was going to be a star, why would she need it? Ms. Blazanin writes an amazing book looking at the true meaning of beauty. Oribella struggles to rewire her thought processes to get beyond the outer beauty of everything. She was brought up to look for imperfections. But when she becomes friends with the most unlikely group of girls, Oribella has to learn the hard way what it means to a friend and be a team player. Ms. Blazanin takes a horrific event in Oribella's life and educates the reader on a little known condition, alopecia areata. It takes a lot of guts for Oribella to embrace her new situation and become an entirely different person. The reader gets to watch Oribella grow and blossom into a true beauty by the end of the story. Reviewed by: Jaglvr