Prom ****

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Prom. New York: Viking, 2005.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. A few weeks before the prom, the senior prom committee discovers that the prom advisor has gone off and stolen the prom money. Left with no money, it seems as if they aren't going to have a prom at all. Ashley couldn't care less since she has no interest in the prom and wasn't planning on going anyway. But, it is important to her best friend and some of her other friends. She jumps in to help her friends try to save prom.

Meanwhile, she has a lot of family drama going on. Her mother is VERY pregnant, and her father is always working on a home-improvement project that takes forever. Ashley wants to marry her boyfriend, who we see as a total loser, but she thinks is fabulous. She has no plans to go to college, and doesn't really know what she wants to do with her life. She is somewhat aimless in life and not sure where she wants to go in life.

The prom helps her focus and do something important for once. Obviously, the prom does happen (duh-- we know the book has to have some sort of happy ending.) The part of her journey through those weeks is what is interesting. The story isn't about the prom-- it is about Ashley growing up and finding direction in her life. Highly recommended to girls crazy about prom!