True Colors by Krysten Lindsay Hager
Tagline: A little competition
can really bring out people’s true colors.
Back Cover
Every day I
walked down the sidewalk to school and wished I were one of the
interesting popular girls who ran up with exciting news. Just once
I’d like to be one of those girls instead of the being the one who
didn’t get invited to things because people “forgot” about me.
Landry gets pushed into trying out for
the American Ingénue reality show modeling competition with her two
best friends. She doesn’t think she stands a chance, but she
advances to the next level in the competition and her friends ignore
her when they get cut.
Enter the gorgeous Devon, who also
makes the first cut and includes Landry in her clique. Devon becomes
the perfect best friend, but can their friendship survive the
competition?
Landry hopes her big break could come
at any moment, but soon sees there’s much more to modeling than
getting your hair done and looking pretty. She begins missing out on
being with new friends like Ashanti, a girl who truly has Landry’s
back. Landry also has the chance to have a boyfriend when she meets a
boy named Vladi from another school.
Part of Landry wants to be famous (and
have her hair look good for once), but part of her just wants to be
accepted. She learns about friendships, being true to yourself, and
that a good hair conditioner doesn’t hurt.
Excerpt
The competition was for girls between
the ages of thirteen and seventeen, but it felt like Ericka, Tori,
and I were the youngest ones there. I only saw a couple of girls from
school, and the lineup looked more like something you’d see on a
music video set. All the girls were gorgeous, and they had these
curvy womanly bodies. I looked like a skinny little kid next to them.
The first girl walked out, and I heard the judges say she “owned
the runway,” and, “walked like a gazelle.” I was starting to
feel ill. I wasn’t sure which way it was going to come, but I knew
I had to find a bathroom — fast. I started to get out of line when
Ericka grabbed my wrist.
“It’s almost time,” she said. A
tiny bit of spit flew out of her mouth and hit my cheek.
I wasn’t sure why she was so intent
on me going through with it, but she had a death grip on my arm, so I
didn’t have much of a choice. Her number was called and she walked
out to the stage. One of the other girls said she walked like a kid
with sand bucket stilts on her feet, but she came back with a smirk
on her face like she knew she’d get chosen.
“They said they had never seen such
long legs,” she said.
Tori was next.
“She walks like a gorilla at feeding
time,” said the girl behind me. I went next, and I tried to focus
on not tripping over my feet. My mom’s pumps had a rubber sole on
the bottom, which probably wasn’t the brightest idea seeing as my
shoes were making squeaking noises as I walked. I was so nervous I
couldn’t stop smiling as I walked. I looked like the plastic clown
who blows up balloons with its mouth at the Pizza Palace. When I got
to the end of the runway, I tried to cross my feet to turn like the
other girls had, but I over rotated and ended up doing a full spin
which made my kilt fan out and gave the mall walkers a view of my
blue underpants. I tried to act like it was intentional and did an
extra turn. One of the judges put her hand up to stop me, and I held
my breath as she started to speak.
Character
Interview with Landry Albright from True
Colors.
What's
the worst thing that's happened in your life? What did you learn from
it?
When
my friends all got mad at me—first when Ericka and Tori stopped
speaking to me after we all tried out for the American
Ingénue
reality show modeling competition and I made it to the next round and
they didn’t. But I learned who my true friends were after that.
Tell
me about your best friend.
I
have two or three besties. Tori used to be my best friend, but after
she got mad at me over that modeling thing…I just don’t trust her
the same way. Ashanti Russell is one of my closest friends. We became
closer after getting to know each other better. She always has my
back. Peyton Urich is another of my best friends. We met when Tori
and Ericka weren’t speaking to me. She’s been such an amazing
friend. And Devon and I have best friend bracelets together,
but…sometimes she gets a little controlling.
What
is one strong memory that has stuck with your character from
childhood? Why is it so powerful and lasting?
I
was in a dance recital when I was four years old. We were supposed to
be little ballerinas and have scarves attached to our tutus, but my
mom was still in school at the time and she came home late and forgot
to give me my scarves. So all the other little girls pulled out their
scarves, and there’s a video of me looking on either side of my
tutu for my scarves and then bursting into tears crying “Mommy!”
as I ran off the stage. My grandmother said I was adorable, but I
don’t think it was any coincidence my grandfather died two weeks
later.
What
is your greatest regret?
That
I messed up my introduction during the American Ingénue competition.
All I had to do was say, “Hi, I’m Landry Albright from Grand
Rapids, Michigan,” and instead I said, “Chicago, Illinois,” my
old state and when I went back to correct it, I totally slammed into
the next contestant, made the microphone shriek and embarrassed
myself. If I could go back in time, I’d totally choose that moment
to change.
Do
you ever lie?
Well,
I don’t outright lie, but when my dad asks about my math grades, I
do point out how awesome I’m doing in English and hope he changes
the subject.
What
do you like best about yourself? Least?
Best?
I think I’m a nice person and a good friend. Least? My hair. I’d
much rather have Devon’s dark, curly hair or Peyton’s dark red
hair.
What
is in your refrigerator right now?
Leftover
butterscotch and vanilla pudding from the variety packs my mom and I
eat all the chocolate out of.
What’s
on your bedroom floor?
Dirty
clothes—like my Hillcrest school uniform that makes me look like a
dead goldfish, my mom’s favorite sweatshirt that I borrowed and got
something blue on (when did I have fruit?), and some magazines.
What’s
on your nightstand?
Magazines,
YA mystery novels, gum wrappers, and my favorite lip gloss.
Imagine
you’re doing intense spring cleaning. What’s easy to throw out?
What is difficult to part with?
Did
my mom put you up to asking this? I hate cleaning my room, but
whatever. I guess the easiest stuff to throw out would be all the
candy wrappers and to put my soda cans in the bin to take back for a
deposit. What’s difficult to part with would be my magazines. I
like to hang onto them and look at them at night before I go to bed.
And I would never part with my stuffed animals—especially the blue
mouse my dad got me when I was little.
If
you could spend the day with someone you admire (living, dead or
imaginary), who would you pick?
Talisa
Milan, my favorite model who won the American
Ingénue
competition. She’s so busy that I doubt I could keep up with her,
but I’d love to see what it’s like to be her just for one day.
She hosts a video show, does makeup and hair care commercials, goes
to school, and she’s dating a member of the band, The Puking Baby
Dolls.
Are
you upset your name is not in the title?
Not
really. Krysten almost used it for the title of the sequel, but at
the last minute she changed it. She told me she might use that one
for the third book though.
Did
your story end too soon?
I’m
getting a sequel and she’s working on a third book, so I’m okay
with it as long as she lets Vladi call me and stuff.
Did
you and your author agree on the storyline?
Well,
at first she told me I had no say in any of it, but she can’t
really control what I say or do. I’m just me and she has to figure
out what to do with that. She calls it, “frustrating,” but hey, I
told her, “You’re the one who became a writer. What did you
expect, genius?” So whatever. She’s got to deal with it.
Book Blurb:
Every day I walked down the sidewalk to
school and wished I were one of the interesting popular girls who ran
up with exciting news. Just once I’d like to be one of those girls
instead of the being the one who didn’t get invited to things
because people “forgot” about me.
Landry gets pushed into trying out for
the American Ingénue reality show modeling competition with her two
best friends. She doesn’t think she stands a chance, but she
advances to the next level in the competition and her friends ignore
her when they get cut.
Enter the gorgeous Devon, who also
makes the first cut and includes Landry in her clique. Devon becomes
the perfect best friend, but can their friendship survive the
competition?
Landry hopes her big break could come
at any moment, but soon sees there’s much more to modeling. She
begins missing out on being with friends and has the chance to have a
boyfriend when she meets a boy named Vladi from another school.
Part of Landry wants to be famous
(and have her hair look good for once), but part of her just wants to
be accepted. She learns about friendships, being true to yourself,
and that a good hair conditioner doesn’t hurt.
Krysten's Link:
