About Books Blog 17: Prom

Author: Laurie Halse Anderson

Genre: Young Adult

Favorite Line

"Something is always broken. Most things can be fixed."

Summary

Ashley Hannigan could care less about prom. However, the rest of her urban high school is bending over backward to make it the perfect night. Including Ashley's best friend Natalia, who heads the prom committee. When the schools faculty advisor gets busted for stealing the prom money, the hopes of the students are crushed. Natalia ropes Ashley into saving the school's most magical night out of absolutely nothing. Can prom be saved? With the help of Ashley's friends and family perhaps it can.

What I Thought Of This Book

Prom was a fun, funny, fast read. The lead character Ashley had a since of humor that is similar to mine. Her family was wacky in an adorable way. Her friend Natalia's grandmother cracked me up. I think the only character I disliked was Ashley's boyfriend. I kept hoping that she would dump him.

The best thing about the book is how Anderson set up these great hilarious scenes with groups of characters. It gave you the feeling that you were in one of those great 80's coming of age films. Even though the book isn't remotely set in the 80's, it still gave me a Pretty In Pink meets Sixteen Candles meets Cinderella vibe.

I loved that the book was comprised of very short chapters. It made it not only easy to read, but easy to find time to read. I didn't have to worry about if I could finish a chapter before I had to work on something else. 

Prom left me with the feeling that all the Laurie Halse Anderson books I've read do. I felt all warm and fuzzy after finishing it. Her books always make me say, "Everything is going to be okay in the end. Even if you have to go through trials and tribulation to get to that point." This is why Laurie Halse Anderson is one of my favorite YA writers. I have a goal to read all her books. However, that has yet to happen, because every time I get close to reading most of them she seems to write a new book. Haha.

Facts I Found Interesting

Darn there are absolutely no interesting facts for this book. I looked and looked. Oh well, just know that the book is plenty interesting.

The Movie

No movie yet. I bet you could make a pretty adorable film out of it. It would probably be wacky fun.

Music To By

Favorite Albums

Sadly, I didn't listen to a lot of albums while reading this one. I was going through a short phase where I just wanted to read in silence. I did listen to Volume 1 and 2 of the Glee Soundtrack near the end of the book. I think that would have been my favorite albums, even if I had listened to tons of music. First of all Glee is set in a high school. Thus, it is perfect for stories about high school students. Secondly, it has several songs that center around working together and staying strong when facing adversity. Which is exactly what Ashley, her friends, and family needed to pull off this prom.

On another music related note. The author stated in her acknowledgments that she listened to Beethoven, Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay, Eminem, Norah Jones, and Sting while writing Prom. Well, there was the interesting fact I was looking for earlier.

Prom Playlist

Basket Case - Green Day

A Little Help From My Friends - Across The Universe Cast

Lean On Me - Glee Cast

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper

Let Go - Frou Frou

He Wasn't - Avril Lavigne

Jump - Madonna

Dancing With Myself - Billy Idol

Brothers and Sisters - Coldplay

Let's Dance - David Bowie

You Can't Always Get What You Want - Glee Cast

My Prom review as promised. I'm actually not sure what book I'm going to do next. I'm not sure which book I'm going to finish first. I'm thinking it's going to be Scarlett, but we shall see.