Straight Out of a Telenovela: Fat Hoochie Prom Queen by Nico Medina

 Speaking of fierce femmes, on the recommendation of Lee Wind I picked this beauty out of my Secret ARC Stash. I'm so glad that I did! Even though I almost tossed it aside as Yet Another Prom Novel (I'd read three in a row), Fat Hoochie Prom Queen turned out to be a fab, funny, raunchy and touching novel about blazing your own trail, living life to the fullest, and finding out what's going on underneath the perfectly bleached roots of your arch-frenemy.

Hey, I usually don't hate people. I love people! And I love myself. I love my big ol' body and I love who I am--and people respond accordingly, which has given me a life full of amazing, astounding, and all-around awesome friends. I might have even been friends with Bridget Benson--if I didn't want to expose her bullshit in all its stinky awfulness to the misinformed student body.

Madge Diaz has a pretty sweet life--if you ignore her micromanaging mother, workaholic dad, dream-deferred big sister, and broken-hearted best friend Lucas who chases all the wrong dudes. All's well till her bitchy rival Bridget Benson announces her campaign for prom queen--and insults everything Madge takes a stand for. After a beautiful retort from Diaz's corner, Madge plots her own prom takeover, complete with anti-prom party. What follows? Road trips fueled by hot dance floor anthems, sassy filthy-mouthed drag queens, amazing outfits, copious junk food, sweet-hearted redneck beaux, endless one-liners from Madge and Lucas, scheming, dirty tricks, and eventual reconciliation, with a happy ending for all involved.

Why weren't my friends smart enough to throw an anti-prom when we were their age? We would have had so much more fun. I digress.

A caveat: Madge and her coterie aren't the most PC of crowds. Some of the lines, not to mention the extensive underage drinking and social drug use, made me want to shake sense into the lot. It's not a book that plays by safe boy-meets-girl-meets-conflict-meets-resolution-and-goofy-dance-scene rules. Fat Hoochie Prom Queen is the love child of Rachel Cohn and John Waters, a slightly twisted teenybopper romp with flash, perversity, good music, bad taste, and heart. So much love.

Oh--if you love this one, get your hands on Freak Show, another prom-queen novel by James St. James, now in paperback. I read and loved it several times; check out the LSL review here. Madge and Billy would be best friends or brilliant rivals--I would kill to see their dance-off. (Or combined fashion line. Oh, the feathers. Oh, the fake facial hair.)

*Read Chapter One, Chapter Two Part One and Part Two

*Nico Medina knows how to do an author website! Tons of info about the man himself, his family, and his books, and a whole page of distractions

*Another reason I love this book? Madge reminds me of an old and true friend, Cat. Not cause she's a fat hoochie prom queen, but because she uses the word breasteses and is always the life of a party. She just turned 23 last week, so happy birthday, Cat!

*Oh, what the heck--have a Fat Hoochie Prom Queen mix, on me!