Makeup Mess

Christina Pike is an English and a Learning Resources Centre teacher at
Ascension Collegiate in Bay Roberts, Newfoundland.

Julie takes all of her “saved up money” and the money she “robbed
from her brother’s piggy bank”—$100 in total—and buys a box full
of makeup. She thinks the makeup will make her look beautiful. Her first
two tries result in screaming and then fainting by the grownups.
Eventually she realizes that her own makeup-free face is beautiful and
sells her makeup to the girls in the neighborhood.

The underlying message in Makeup Mess is well developed. At a time when
plastic surgery to improve one’s looks has become commonplace, it is
nice to read a book that emphasizes real beauty as being unadorned and
natural. In delivering the message, however, Munsch unfortunately goes
too far. In order to buy her makeup, Julie steals from her brother;
ignores her mother when she says “Oh no” to Julie’s quest to buy
the makeup; and then sells her used makeup for $200 more than what she
paid for it. In trying to make Julie realistic, Munsch has perhaps tried
too hard. His story is nevertheless entertaining and has an important
message for everyone. Recommended with reservations.