Modelland

by Tyra Banks

Is it good to publish a novel written by Tyra Banks? Probably not. Did I give it a chance anyway? Of course.

Banks’s foray into young adult literature is mediocre at best. Basically, this is the tale of Tookie De La Crème and her journey to Modelland and beyond. Tookie is an outcast, funny looking, definitely not someone to be chosen on The Day of Discovery, clearly not a future resident of Modelland.

But she is chosen, and her journey soon begins.

There’s not too much to tell because there’s not too much substance to this story. Banks has created a futuristic land dedicated to modeling. Big deal.

Tyra could have written a scathing indictment of models and their lives. Or at least a cautionary tale. Instead, she wrote a really dull and strange story of a land devoted to the worship and training of models.

This is pretty horrible stuff, which tells me that Tyra probably did write this. No ghost writer here.

1/30/12