Fairest of Them All by Jan Blazanin

If life were a fairy tale, Oribella Bettencourt would have a "happily ever after" kind of future ahead of her. A Hollywood producer has come to Des Moines in search of a perfectly modern Princess Rapunzel, and Ori -- a model, dancer, and star of the beauty pageant circuit -- lands the part. And why shouldn't she? With her hardworking, self-sacrifi cing mother guiding her career, Ori is stunning, dedicated, poised...and then there's her hair. Breathtakingly lustrous blond hair that sets her apart from all the other girls at school. So what if she doesn't have any friends her age, or anyone to talk to other than her mother? She's on the verge of having everything she's ever dreamed of.
But in this fairy tale, the beautiful princess wakes up to her worst nightmare -- when almost overnight, Ori begins to lose her hair....

my thoughts:

What do you do when your 15, you’ve just won the “Miss Crowning Glory” pageant, have multiple photo shoots scheduled and you get the part in your first movie and your hair starts to fall out? These things (and so much more) begin happening to Oribella in “Fairest Of Them All”. It turns out Oribella has Alopecia Areata and she (and her mother) must learn to cope with the results.

I really enjoyed “Fairest Of Them All”. It was a completely different book than any that I’ve read in a long while. I can not imagine the emotional struggle that a teenage girl (or guy) would go through at a time when everyone around you is so focused on looks. This book does an excellent job going through all of the emotions that you feel as you watch your hair come out a strand or two (sometimes a handful) at a time.

I think Oribella would be a great “fictional” role model for teenage girls just learning to live with alopecia.