Beauty Queen

New York, NY: HarperCollins Children's Books , 2010 HarperCollins Children's Books, New York. 2010. Hardcover. 14th Printing by Line Number. Book is tight, square, and unmarked. Book Condition: Very Good; light rubbing to boards. No DJ. Black paper over boards with black cloth overlay on the spine with bright gilt lettering on the spine. 168 pp 12mo. Even though this is fiction, reading this diary of a heroine addict is like watching someone fall into an abyss: knowing a crash is inevitable, but wondering how soon and how hard rock bottom will be. The narrator, 19-year-old Samantha Strasbourg, seems doomed from the beginning, living with an alcoholic mother and her mother's abusive boyfriend, and working a dead-end job at a fast-food restaurant. When Sam moves into her own apartment, she appears to be taking a positive step; however, new-found independence breeds a different set of problems, like raising enough money for rent. Sam starts dancing in a topless bar to raise more cash--and starts using heroin to release her inhibitions on stage. Her downward spiral gains momentum as the drug begins to take over her life. Although ""skin popping"" makes Sam feel like she is in ""heaven,"" her existence grows increasingly hellish as her health deteriorates and her sense of judgment rapidly declines. Glovach pulls no punches describing the seductive power of heroin as well as identifying its destructive effects. The author's first-person narrative has the effect of sucking readers into the tiny world inside Sam's head, where choices are few, and good and evil are indiscernible. A thoroughly credible glimpse of addiction. A clean very presentable copy.