Prom -- Laurie Halse Anderson

It's nice to occasionally read a YA book about "normal" teens experiencing "normal" teenage life.  (Don't jump on me for using the word "normal".  I am not saying that people dealing with loss, abuse, depression, drugs, alcohol, blahdiblah blah blah are abnormal.  You know exactly what I mean).  Anyway.

(Just for the record, I am also NOT saying that YA lit is comprised solely of depressing "issue" books, as some people would have you believe.  There's plenty of YA novels that don't fall into that category.   I just happen to have read a bunch of heavy ones lately).  Anyway.   

It's nice to occasionally read a YA book about normal teens experiencing normal teenage life.  I was just surprised that I found said teens in a Laurie Halse Anderson book.  The main character referenced Speak right at the beginning of the book, and she sounded like a) she didn't identify with Melinda, and b) she didn't like the book.  So.  That was cool.  Because I could totally see why some people wouldn't like the book.  (Even though I thought it was great).

So.  The math teacher steals the prom money and the kids have to put together a new prom with practically no money.  Ashley is completely disinterested in the prom--not because she's boyfriendless and pining (that would be your regular angst-ridden YA book)--but because she just thinks it's lame.  But she jumps into the fray to help her best friend, who is very, very into the prom-thing.  That's about it.  FUN!

Comments

[i hate emo kids]

speak sUUUuuuucks! so sick of the angsty pity me stuff. being a teenager sucks, get over it. it's better than everything else that follows, so enjoy it.

[leila]

Says the twenty-three year old.

I liked Speak. Bite me. And, c'mon. She actually had something to be pretty damned angsty about.

[Chrissy]

Speaking as a once teenager whose best friend was raped, who then never told anyone about it (including me), and ended up getting ostracised because she started acting 'weird'(again, by me, including), I kind of identified with the book. A lot. It was scary and painful to read. No, I never bothered telling anyone why I identified with the book so much (and I'm questioning the wisdom of it now). And I'm sorry if this sounds snarky, but it was frightenly accurate for me. There are days I wish I hadn't read it.

Anywho.... Prom got horrible reviews on Amazon. Not that I trust those, but I'm glad you read it. I've been curious, but it's just so low on my list of book read priorities.

Sorry for the downer. Yes, high school sucks. But for some, high school sucks just that little bit more. Hindsight is 20/20, but I can't help but feel like if Speak had been out when I was going through that, maybe, just maybe, I would have recognized the warning signs. Probably not.

And high school is NOT better than anything else that follows. Sorry to disagree.

[leila]

Speak completely flipped me out. I knew that it would, which is why I wouldn't read it for so long.

Gah. I've tried to write more than those two sentences for way too long, so I give up. But, yeah. Speak hit me hard.

Prom is just a fun, silly little book. It shouldn't be compared to Speak, because it's in a whole different genre.

[i hate emo kids]

the idea that "the high school years are the best of your life" is obviously cliche and was said sarcastically.

and sadly, a lot of crappy books are relateable.

basically i hate the fact that books about stuff like this automatically get labelled as "good" books because they deal with important issues. that fact doesn't make them any more well-crafted.

[adina]

i loved the book speak. it sends a message. its also good to have books that some people can identify with. Everyone is different. if we had the same old books that had everyone problem free and happy endings with happily ever after, then it would be boring. there are kids out there like melinda, and by not writing about things such as rape or drug abuse, or homosexuality, aren't people trying to deny the fact that those things exist? think about it

[kelsey]

i identified with the book speak. it actually tells me the story of basically my own life. i was raped like melinda was, and this book helped me get through the rest of my senior year. it helped me accept what happened.