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Beauty Queens Chapter 11 Summary

  • Taylor tells the Teen Dreams to treat survival as another skill in the competition. It's a pretty good method, really. Their new goal: to use the supplies they have to create shelter and materials for catching and cooking food.
  • Nicole and Shanti take the stage. They try to introduce an idea of creating an irrigation system for drinking water, but it's too complicated to get done.
  • Tiara tells a long story, but there's an actual idea at the end: to stretch an evening gown over a trench to sift the water. They do so, rain falls, and they actually have clean water to drink. Cool story, Tiara.
  • The other girls deliver, too. Brittani and Tiara catch fish with straightening irons and Miss Ohio creates a solar grill from plane wreckage to cook them. Impressive. Plus, Petra makes a banner out of evening gowns and sequins that will catch the sun's light and draw the attention of passing planes.
  • Jennifer puzzles over fixing the radio. It's hard for her not to doubt herself when no one has counted on her before. Sad.
  • Meanwhile, Mary Lou and Adina are trying catch fish. Or rather, Adina tries to catch them and Mary Lou just points them out. (She's a vegetarian.)
  • They trade stories about past boyfriends. Adina had one that she didn't like much. Mary Lou won't say much about her ex-boyfriend, Billy. She remembers almost having sex with him, but the boy got freaked out by the intensity of her desire. Kind of the opposite of what you'd expect.
  • Anyway, her mother bought her a purity ring the next day. Still, Mary Lou thinks she's cursed.
  • Later, Taylor challenges the Teen Dreams to create weapons in case of predators. She offers them goodies from her makeup bag as rewards. Her makeup must be bomb.
  • Misses Montana, Ohio, and California build a missile launcher from bamboo, coconuts, and DiscomfortWear. Nicole and Brittani make a splat gun out of bamboo and foundation. Jennifer and Sosie make arrows from wood, tree sap, and melted jewelry. Adina, Petra, and Mary Lou create a hammock and dig a trap.
  • Taylor, always the one to be on top, says she's her own weapon.
  • Finally, everyone helps Petra hoist her banner.
  • The scene switch to a script for a commercial for two Corporation Shows: called Patriot Daughters and Captain Bodacious, a show about pirates who don't do much but look good.
  • The chapter ends with Sosie's questionnaire. She hates having to say things like "I hear with my heart" (11.209) to make able-bodied people feel okay with her. The thing she wants most is a best friend.