Beauty Queen

by Linda Glovach

I felt the prick of the needle, but only for a second, because this great rush of warmth quickly followed, encompassing my whole body from my toes right up to the top hair on my head. I couldn't move for a minute as she guided the needle in and out of my vein. When she was done, I felt like I had entered heaven. I looked in the mirror and felt beautiful and confident. I felt this great peace, at last, a warmth, and I knew that everything was going to be okay—and really always had been. Like time had stopped and I was floating on a cloud.

"Writing the book, I saw my old dope dealer and bought $1,500 worth of pure heroin—Brown Gold—and started shooting up 10 times a day to get the feel of the book. Well, I did, all right. I ended up in Glen Cove General, almost dead. In truth, you make a deal with the Devil. He takes away your pain, but he owns you. You live for the next fix. After a while, it's totally physical; your body has to have it. But I'm off it for good." —Linda Glovach

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Drugs, Addiction, Contemporary, Teen, Abuse

176 pages, Hardcover

First published September 18, 1998

About the author

Linda Glovach lives in Sea Cliff, NY.

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very hard book to rate because I am on the fence about it. I liked the story, but I absolutlet hated every single character except for the 2 cats, Dinah & Sylvester. I know that is very strange, but every character in this book pissed me off with their crap excuses. The main character was dumber than a box of rocks, her best friend was in denial, her mother was a drunk who had taken up with a perv, her boss ignored the bad stuff going on, her boyfriend was a POS, and the one person I almost liked, Angelo, did not do enough to save Sam who was the main character. Sam did nothing to help herself. I personally thought she was an over indulged spoiled brat who wanted the easy life, but didn't think she had to work hard to get it. She had the resources to make something of herself and avoid the path she went down, but her motivation to do so was not there. Ughhhh....even talking about it makes me mad.

I won't give anything else away, but expect to either be quite angry or quite sad. The story is told in diary format like the book, Go Ask Alice. It's easy to read and with only 168 pages long you can probably breeze right on through it in a day.

[Pepper · Rating 2 out of 5]

A teenage stripper happens to come across another stripper shooting up heroin and decides pretty much right there on the spot to try it. Instantly, she’s hooked, can’t live without it. This “magical potion” changed her life! This teenage girl grew up with an alcoholic mom and she makes it sound as if she does not want to go down that road, so instead alcohol she chooses an even lower way of life and shoots up heroin. Nobody around her seems to mind her habit, maybe with the exception of her best friend who's angry and stays away - does not reach out to try to help the addict in any way. Unrealistic story, rushed and shallow. Easy enough to read but a bit frustrating, jumping from journal entry to journal entry with no depth to the characters. There are way better books out there about heroin, save yourself some money and skip this one.

[Terry · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a decade, students in my Junior English classes have come upon this slim volume and really enjoyed it. Make that LOVED it. Like A Child Called "It", this is a book that reluctant-reading teens can get through and feel the same rhapsody that adult readers find in literature. Because of this, I appreciate what the book can do; it can kick-start a reader.

The story is simple enough, which is its appeal for its audience. It seems to be Sam's diary. She is a nineteen year old girl who is transparently simple: mom's a drunk, dad is gone, step-dad makes creepy suggestions whenever he's alone with her, she hates her job cooking at the local chicken joint, she loves her diabetic dog. She moves out, becomes a stripper and heroin user (on the same page, 44 in my edition). She gets a mob boyfriend and a dirty-cop boyfriend. She shoots more smack than Keith Richards. The entire thing takes less than 170 pages.

The story is formulaic in the extreme. If the reader wants character development, nuance, or elegant - even workman-like - writing, this isn't the place to go. There are many better books about addiction. There are many better books about lost teen girls. But if Recovery Road and Riding in Cars with Boys and Girl, Interrupted and The Perks of Being a Wallflower are too long, too slow, and too deep, this is a straight-line morality tale that can hook a non-reader.

[Aileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book when I was in like 7th grade. I shouldn't have, since this book was so in depth when it came to drugs and exotic dancing but it made me really afraid to ever do drugs, and I think I kept that mentality since I still haven't. The good thing about this book is that it may be dated, but it feels real, it gives the feeling of someone who is hurting, someone who is truly going through this when they are writing it. This book may be tragic and kind of scary if you are young, but it is a good thing to read to make your child never consider doing drugs. I loved this book, or at least I remember loving it, and in ways it terrified me, but in other's I couldn't put it down and even re-read it, it was that good to me back then. Though the references may be to the 80s/90s most people can skip over that, and not care about it, what they should care about is this girl deteriorating before their very eyes.

[Eva-Marie Nevarez · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is just plain terrible. I'm not sure how old this author was when this was written but I have no doubt that the average 12-year-old could have written a better book.
Not only does Glovach give a step-by-step how-to on how to cook and inject heroin, the diary entries are horrible. Childish when the character is supposed to be 19-years-old, written poorly overall, etc.
The back states the following, " Writing the book, I saw my old dope dealer and bought $1,500 worth of pure heroin-Brown Gold-and started shooting up ten times a day to get the feel of the book."
Uh, is that a joke? This is for young adults? I'm so happy that there are books like this available to our children. God forbid they grow up without direction on cooking up shots of heroin.
Glovach should be ashamed of herself. I've never read a book that I thought should be "banned" but this comes awfully close.

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a serious issue with this book for several reasons, but perhaps I just shouldn't read books about teen strippers, people with no spine, hard core drug/heroine addicts, and people who don't do enough to solve serious life problems.

Sam is a 19 year-old MC who has so many dysfunctional relationships: a drunken alcoholic mom, a step-dad who is obviously a creepy pervert, an absent biological father, and so she insinuates herself into a life of stripping and a "beautiful" relationship with heroin, which is considered one of, if not the most, difficult drugs to get off of. It's a fairly predictable story, nothing really unique or new about it. I really would give it a 2.5 if I could.

[Storm]

Beauty Queen, Beauty Queen, Beauty Queen, my goodness was this an amazing book. I couldn't put it down the second I started reading the first page! I liked how the book was written in a diary format, it was edgy, realistic, and heart warming. I felt that Sam was my dear friend and reading her tragic herion abuse my heart went out to her. She had such a kind, gentle soul and alls she wanted in life was a nice home her and her beloved cat could share. One thing leads to another and next thing you know she's shotting up herion 5 times a day just to feel alive. She had so many things going for her, money, friends who took care of her, and a contagious spirit. When she meets the man who she thinks she falls in love with you just want to stop her from getting hurt. The end, was so unexpected. I mean to just leave the women you supposedly love and want marry with a plane ticket and bag waiting at the front door is unheard of. I think Sam took it a little far though by overdosing just because he didn't show up, I thought she was smarter than that, but I guess her magic potion worked against her and finally couldn't fill that empty hole she's been digging for a long time.

[Ashlyn Rae (TeenageReader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Beauty Queen was scary and deep. It was painful to read but I finished it in a sitting. I was still thinking about it over the next few days. Some say that this book should be banned or shouldn't have been published, but I think Linda Glovach put her own experience with drugs into a story so she can show people what drugs can do to you. Even though Beauty Queen was short (and disturbing), Glovach's powerful story will make sure that you will never consider doing drugs. Give this story a try and IGNORE all the negative reviews of this book because Beauty Queen will change your views of drugs. You should also give this book a try if you like reading books by Ellen Hopkins.

http://teenagereader.com/beauty-queen...

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard to fully grasp--and write, for that matter-- books written in diary form. Beauty Queen, however, surpasses the norm. The reader is overwhelmed with the rawness of the storyline like it was written like a normal novel. When Sam's heroin addiction gets worse and worse, the reader sees it even when Sam doesn't. Sam is stubborn yet optimistic, lovelorn, and absolutely obsessed with heroin. After she is introduced to it, she needs it to do everything. Dates, work, dinner, everything. It's like her fuel, and it's scary. You definitely can tell when her addiction is growing dangerous, but to the protagonist, there is nothing abnormal about it. That's what I think makes it so different than other drug books.

[Carrie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is terrible. I've been trying to find more drug-related books for the students who like Tweak and Crank, and gave this one a try. What a mess! First of all, it's extremely dated - almost every "diary entry" contains a reference to a late 80s/early 90s song/actress/movie/etc. Most of which would go right over the heads of YA readers today since it's not anything that has stood the test of time. The writing is terrible, and the plot is just really hard to buy in to. I won't be putting this one on the shelves, and I can only hope my used bookstore will be dumb enough to buy it off my hands.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spoiler Alert!!!!

Wow. I feel so bad about what happened to poor Sam. She had all the support she needed but once she was introduced to heroin, that was all she thought about. Mostly, I feel bad for her cats- they don't even know she's dead. All Sam ever talked about was making a good life for her and Dinah - her poor cat who had diabetes. Now Sam is gone.

I really connected with this book because someone in my family went through something very similar to this. They think the drugs can save them and make life feel better- truth is, it just hurts you more. R.I.P. Sam...& Dad.

[Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Amateurish writing, extremely loose "plot", shallow and unbelievably stupid characters. This book was a massive disappointment.

I never felt like there was ever any real danger for Sam, and her addiction is depicted in an almost nonexistent way? I don't want to downplay the horrors of heroin/addiction, but her struggles seem very shallow as well, ever though she does drugs on nearly every page. I never felt like her life truly deteriorated past her dependence on heroin. Maybe this isn't coming across right, but it felt very safe and again, shallow. It reminded me of Go Ask Alice, and not in a good way.

Last line:

Sam was right- animals are so smart.

[Sasha · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am not sure why my poor high schooler was forced to read this book because it was pretty horrid. Not only does it graphically describe how to take heroin but it divulges into the world of "exotic dancing". On the back of the book, the author states that in writing this book she "bought $1,500 worth of pure heroin-Brown Gold-and started shooting up ten times a day to get the feel of the book." As my student (and his father states) some people are just "stupid". :)

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the book Beauty Queen but I would like to state in my opinion no book about how drugs ruin young peoples lives have ever matched Ellen Hopkins' at least non that I have read so far. The story was touching and I felt myself feeling Sam's pain andsorrows right along with her. In conclusion i'd like to say I recommend this book to whomever. The reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 at certain points I didn't uite understand what was going on.

[Zot · Rating 1 out of 5]

Everything in this novel smacks of falsehood: the situtations, the characters, the dialogue, the oh-so-conveinent "my cat is diabetic so I have easy access to syringes" to ease the problem of shooting heroin. Even the ending seems stolen from Go Ask Alice, which is another falseface novel. Sheesh!

[Cheyenne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I really felt like i was her. She "loved" a guy people had told she shouldn't have been with but she didn't listen. she died because of love and heroin

[Omar Husain · Rating 1 out of 5]

Good for a laugh, that's about it.

[Janete Spure · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Viena balta,dziedoša miera stunda,
Bet no mūža gari nemiera gadi nost,
Jo par vienu vienīgu ekstāzes mirkli
Tu atdod visu,kas varēji kļūt
/No Sāras Tīsdeilas "Apmaiņas"/
Šis dzejolis grāmatas sākumā perfekti raksturo tās būtību. Jauna,skaista un cerību pilna, vien 19 gadus veca Sema,pašai to nemanot, nokļūst heroīna gūstā. Tieši tā pašai to nemanot, jo viss, ko saprot viņa (laikā, kad vēl nebija tādas informācijas plūsmas kā tagad), ka ir dziļi nelaimīga ar māti alkoholiķi un briesmīgu patēvu, viņai šķiet, ka tas ir "brīnumlīdzeklis", tieši TIK naivi. Pati pirmo reizi šo grāmatu lasīju 12 gados un, protams, toreiz līdzpārdzīvojums bija vēl izteiktāks. Ar šī brīža dzīves pieredzi es saprotu, ka Sema uzticējās nepareizajiem cilvēkiem, bet toreiz man vienkārši bija skumji par "dzīves netaisnību." Lai vai kā, priecājos, ka izlēmu pārlasīt un uzskatu, ka ir vērts drīzumā iedot izlasīt arī meitai, jo caur empātiju arī viņa iespējams labāk uztvers grāmatas galveno domu - narkotikas nogalina. Manuprāt, efektīvāk nekā buklets ar tamlīdzīgu uzrakstu, jo,lai arī naivas meitenes skatpunkts, tomēr realitāte tiek atainota. 💔🤍

[Rabea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this when I was around 12/13 and I remember liking it a lot. It felt realistic, the ups and downs, the getting better and relapsing, the environment needed to be in addiction perpetually. The diary style worked out well for the age I read it at. I gotta say though, that if I read it now 10 years later, I'd probably not like it very much. I think this truly is a teen book and has its greatest impact there. I read it it in my free time and not for school and I don't think I would've liked it if I had the pressure to read it. This is a book that I had to randomly find on my own and read empty in a day. For me it wasn't really having the effect of "don't take drugs" (cause I was a self-educating kid anyway) and more of the effect of understanding the mental aspects of addiction and helped me empathize better on some level.

All in all a good book for nerdy teens who read a lot of random books or have this topic as a special interest.

[Rebecca McNamara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this book at a used book sale, not realizing it was a YA novel. The fact that the intended audience is YA is terrifying: the author completely romanticizes heroin use on the back cover, where she is quoted saying she “started shooting up ten times a day to get the feel of the book.” Seven sentences later, she’s suddenly sober. That’s how the book operates, too: the sudden shock of drug use, glamorizing heroin (even providing a basic how-to tutorial), and then things move so quickly you get whiplash. One page the protagonist is a young, ambitious woman with an alcoholic mother trying to set out on her own, and the next she’s using a “magic potion” that makes her feel fabulous as well as helps her complete basic daily tasks. The way the story evolves, nothing feels believable, and the characters are underdeveloped, and the writing itself is too poor to redeem it.

[Zooey Glass · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the most ridicoulus, shallow, stupid book I've ever read.
I can't believe someone published this trash.
It's like a very, very trashy, soap opera; no character is developted, you can't possibly care less about the leading "queen" (cause nobody that stupid could ever exist).
It's harrowing that a dramatic topic like heroin it's treated with such foolishness.
I could recommend this only as a demonstration that LITERALLY ANYTHING can be published, so it's probably useful to any struggling young, unpublished writer.

[Tammy Downing · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book for free from Goodreads Giveaways. A compelling story about a young woman who leaves her alcoholic mother's house to become independent. She starts working as an exotic dancer and discovers the lure of heroin.

[Jeanette · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.4

[Servabo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as dark of a book as I had hoped it would be. It didn't do much for me emotionally. I find Go Ask Alice had a bigger impact on me.

[Bente · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een boek dat ik in mijn jeugd vaak gelezen heb. Ik vond alleen nu dat het verhaal eigenlijk te kort is en dat het te snel ging.

[Jychelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another book I read in high school that even furthered my disgust and over the top resistance to heroin. I think books like this should be available for teens, it's a little smack in the face reality of the "hey kids don't do drugs" slogan.

Written like a diary by a 19 year old girl, Samantha, she learns very quickly that things don't come easy in the real world. She wanted to be loved and she found it in heroin. It's a sad story but it's reality.

[Miatuzlic · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the first books I ever read for pleasure, while in High School. I absolutly fell in love with it. I bonded with the character and therefor, found a new passion for reading, that i hadn't had before. This book is the reason I read, in my spare time, to this very day. The book is about a girl, who starts stripping to pay the rent, after moving out on her own from her mother's house. It is written in diary format, which really helped me get into the very feel of emotions she went through. If you haven't read it yet, this is one book I'd say every girl HAS-to read at one point in their lifetime. I myself, have read it about 4-5 times. And if there was a device(like suposed ub the CIA) to really erase the memory of a particular event, I would most def. want the knowledge of the book content erased, so that I could read it AGAIN, and have the same enjoyment as it always comes when one reads a great book for the very FIRST time...

To all of you who believe you may be interested in reading it, I really hope I have pushed you over to the -DEF. WILL read- side
Because I promise, this is one book that you will definitly appriciate reading and most certainly never forget you have....!

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fuji, Red Rum, Dead End; these are the names of a few of Sam’s closest friends. Her favorite brands of Heroine. The only ones that know the true relationship of Sam and her friends are her journal and those she left behind to read it.

Sam is told by her therapist to write in her journal what she is feeling and thinking because it is for her to express herself vocally. The reader travels with Sam as her desperate attempt to get out on her own lead her to a path she never imagined taking. Angelo, David, and Nichole become Sam’s lifelines and eventually one of them will lead to her destruction.

Read Beauty Queen to see the effects of heroine in the life of a recent high school graduate trying to find a way to make it in life on her own without the assistance of her parents. Sam’s story will make you cringe, cry, laugh, and even wonder at how she is surviving. It’s a great book to take excerpts from. I wouldn’t recommend taking the book in its entirety to teach except to perhaps a college age group. The content is very raw and would be challenged by parents, administration, and students without a doubt.

[Karla Chavarria · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is written for people who like to read about the complicated life styles of a human beings who struggle throughout their life times.
I gave this book one star. It was awful.
Through out this book, I thought Angelo was going to turn out to be the bad guy. I had my suspicions, but he turned out to be the father figure that Sam never had. And now that she had one, she didn't appreciate him and his wise words enough unless they were about drugs. I also thought it was pointless for Sam's mother and Reed to be introduced because they didn't really have anything to do with the book. They were just random events added. I really didn't like this book because I was waiting for suspense and action, and it never came. It was simply boring!
The big idea of this book is that the easy way out of a tough situation isn't always going to be the solution to last you a lifetime.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this book when I was in high school. I have remembered it since then for the last 5-6 years. At the time I never thought I would be able to relate to the characters drug use but somehow in the last few years I was also doing heroin 24/7. So now that I am recovering from that I wanted to read this book again and see how it felt.
Both times I have read it, once being very anti drug and then years later having lived with heroin addiction it still had a very powerful affect on me. I would recommend this to anyone. Of course the ending is very sad... but I really understood Sam and her pain and what drove her to make bad decisions. I wish it could have ended differently but I guess that's the scary reality of what can happen with addiction!