Tyra Banks to pen "Modelland" series for young adults

(AFP PHOTO/GABRIEL BOUYS)

Supermodel turned media mogul Tyra Banks is set to write a three-book young adult fantasy series called Modelland, announced Delacorte Press on May 11. The first book is due out in summer 2011.

Modelland will tells the story of a teen girl in a magical world who is accepted into an academy for "Intoxibellas" - "the most exceptional models known to humankind." At the academy, the main character finds herself competing for acceptance and for a way of life "that's both hotly desired and woefully out of reach."

Tyra Banks is currently in her 13th season as host of her reality TV show America's Next Top Model; her other television credits include True Beauty, Stylista, and her talk show Tyra, which will soon come to an end. In September the former Victoria's Secret model launched an online beauty magazine called Tyra: Inside & Out.

Banks joined a list of young female celebrities to try their hand at writing, among them actress Hilary Duff, who is set to publish a young adult romance/adventure series beginning in October 2010.