I have to admit that I was sleeping on this one. I somehow managed to miss that Miss Meteor was going to be a thing that existed this year until I received it from HarperTeen. Anyone who has seen any of my favorite book lists knows that Anna-Marie McLemore is one of my favorites because they write beautiful stories with queer characters. And then, you add Tehlor Kay Mejia to the mix, whose We Set the Dark on Fire I thoroughly enjoyed, and I knew I was in for a book I was going to love. Here’s the publisher’s summary from the inside flap:
Two ex-best friends. Two big secrets. One beauty pageant. Everyone knows that Meteor, New Mexico got its name from the space rock that crashed into the desert nearby. no one knows that Lita Perez came with it-or that she’s starting to turn back into stardust. She’ll never get a chance to graduate high school or kiss the boy she adores–not unless she can find a way to make Meteor hold on to her and never let go. Much to her surprise, Lita discovers her life might depend on winning the annual Miss Meteor beauty pageant. But if she’s going to have a chance, she’ll need her ex-best friend, Chicky Quintanilla
Chicky knows Lita has no chance of becoming Miss Meteor. Every year, the pageant queen is skinny, poised, and white–three things that Lita definitely is not. But Chicky also knows that if Lita wins, it will show this whole backward town that there’s more toe beauty than being blonde and popular. If Lita can find a way to overcome the odds, then maybe Chicky can find a way to come out of the closet. Maybe she can finally stand up to the people who look down on her for not fitting in and stop pushing away the people who make her feel seen.
To pull off the unlikeliest underdog story in pageant history, Lita and Chicky are going to have to forget the past and imagine a future where girls like them are more than enough–they are everything.
HarperTeen — inside the dust jacket.
Scroll down and swipe left for my sticky note review.
Friendship, light romance, and a healthy dose of [characters] learning to (both) accept that they are enough and stand up for themselves makes Miss Meteor an absolute delight. The #queer rep is awesome (I expected as much given these authors’ backlists). I loved all of the characters, and the story, and even the green chile mention (if you’re a New Mexican, you know why. Highly recommended.
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