Today is Tyra Banks' 42nd birthday and, tragically, the day that America's Next Top Model will be eliminated from our screens. It's truly the end of an era. But fear not, because Tyra has so much more to give.
The model, actress, pop star and TV host is also an author. In 2011, Banks released a young adult science fiction novel called Modelland -- and literature was never the same.
[seealso slug="tyra-banks-life-size-2"]
The novel's protagonist, Tookie, is an awkward "Forgetta-Girl" whose life is forever altered when she finds a coveted SMIZE — a talisman that puts her in the running to attend Modelland, the elite boarding school in the skies where girls become models. If they don't get in, they're destined to toil in a factory. (There are only two jobs in this dystopian universe.) According to legend, the road to becoming a supermodel is littered with human sacrifice.
But against all odds, Tookie is whisked into the heavens by some sort of womb-like apparatus. She finds her voice in Modelland, where girls are beautiful because they're different.
And of course, because this is Tyra, things get progressively more dumbfounding from there. Here are the quotes to know if you wanna be on top.
[nggallery id="25264" layout="list" title="top"]