Prom

by Ellie O'Ryan

For some, it's the most highly-anticipated event in all of high school. For others, it's dreaded like the SATs. For Nova Prescott, it's a night she's been planning for months. It's prom. And all Nova wants is for Brandon to ask her to be his date. It looks as though all her organization will pay off, but then Brandon asks her to "carpool" so they can lower their "carbon imprint" and to make matters worse, an accidental fire causes the prom decorations to go up in smoke!

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Middle Grade, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Chick Lit

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 15, 2011

About the author

Ellie O’Ryan loves chocolate almost as much as she loves writing books for kids. She is the author of more than 300 books for children and has a secret chocolate stash hidden in her office for late-night writing sessions. Ellie lives in North Carolina with her husband, two kids, three cats, and one dog.

Reviews

[Watson Wildcats · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the book Prom there are many characters but we are focusing on four. Nova a smart young girl, Jesse a bad boy who is under estimated, Jordan a popular young girl, and Tyler a popular jerk. Jesse and Nova are challenged to work together to make prom decorations by the principle. The only thing the whole school is thinking about is prom so Nova and Jesse have a lot of stress on their plate, before prom in three weekes. The stress is on for everyone, having the perfect dress, date, ride, etc. I loved this book it felt like I was in the prom setting as a middle schooler.

[Karla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its a good story and knows how to get you thinking about proms, relationship, friends, and feeling. Yes that is right i said feelings.

[Mika Nickel · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a cute story, but as it is aimed for a younger audience, I think it gives an unrealistic view of the prom, people, and experience in general.

[Blythe Penland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was a happy modern fairytale. Yay! It was beautiful. Of course, when I checked the book out from the library I didn't realize it was only a novelization of the movie. (I thought the movie was based on the book.) It was still really good and it was told in the third person point of view, so it gave more insight into the characters' feelings more than the movie could. Let me just start off by saying how much I loved all the romance in this book. Since it centers around Prom, it's obvious that it will have romance, but I just had many couples to ship so it made me very happy. First off, Nova and Jesse. Talk about relationship goals. They are OTP for this book, obvi. They are like yin to yang and I couldn't ship it more. Jesse is a fighter and he is a good guy. I'm so glad he went to Prom. And he danced with Nova and gave her the candy necklace. (Okay, my heart is melting.) I feel like I can relate to Nova because she tried so hard to get Brandon to notice her and he never got the hint. I also relate because I love the way she vents her anger and sadness. She turns off the lights, locks the door, closes the curtains, and screams into her pillow. *Claps* Respect. I give it a 10. I should do that more to vent my negative feelings. As for Justin and Mei, they are soooo adorbsable. They have been together forever and they are like soulmates. Could it get any better? But then Mei kept a secret from Justin, and it made Justin think she was going to break up with him. Not cool, Mei. I wish she had just come out with the truth in the first place. Did you see how supportive Justin was? He loves Mei. They don't have to both go to Michigan. Mei got into Parsons! She has such a talent. And Justin is happy for her. Onto Ali, I almost thought that Rolo and Ali were gonna be a couple, but I was wrong. Apparently, Rolo does have a Greek-Canadian supermodel girlfriend that was late to Prom. Oh, well, if something did happen between Ali and Rolo I would've shipped it. Now, let's talk about Tyler and Jordan. Uch, Tyler. He cheated on Jordan, lied to Simone, tricked Lucas, and only cared for himself. At least he got what he deserved. Rejected twice in front of the entire Senior class. Humiliating, much? ;) As for Jordan, you go girl! You don't need a man. You're free and you've got your own future. Make it count. And then Simone and Lucas. Totes shipping. And glad that Simone finally came to her senses and realized that Lucas was way better than Tyler. And Lucas realized his mistakes, too. He apologized to Corey for ditching him and they got to see Stick Hippo in concert. How cool is that? And Simone and Lucas even got to dance on Prom night. Corey is the coolest friend ever for giving Lucas his Hendrix moment. This bromance is shipped! And then there's Lloyd. Poor Lloyd. At least he went to Prom with someone who cares about him. Tess seems like a pretty cool sister. And Lloyd did meet that cute girl that was nice. If only they'd met sooner, though. In short, this book was fantabulous. I gotta say though, I did not see the whole shed-burning-down thing coming. But it did put Jesse and Nova together which was awesome, so I guess everything worked out for the best. I recommend this book to high-schoolers.

[Mae · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I finished reading Prom by Ellie O’Ryan. Ugh, I don’t know who was the author but for me it was a good book. It was written in a best way. I mean, it was great how the author was to suppose to connect the characters in the protagonist’s life.

Well, for some this book might not be that good, not enough either, but for me it was. Reading it almost felt like reading my own Prom story. The difference is, we really didn’t have the scene where in a guy would ask you to be his date for one night. I guess, our school don’t allow those kind of things. We went in a group, though and danced with a bunch of guys. Anyways, the fact is the book was completely a diary, written for everyone. True story, somehow. C’mon, tell me. Who didn’t feel any excitement when prom was coming?

Memories from Senior life came flashing through that played on my mind like a movie. A night that was worth holding on to. That time when we were all there, for one last night before the rest of our lives began, and before our destinies pulled us apart. That giddy excitement, out on the dance floor, dancing with the guy you thought wouldn’t notice you but that night he did. Dancing with the guy you loved the most. Oooooh, memories.. They do stay forever.

I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I’m looking forward to it. But honestly, reading the book felt like watching it, too. I don’t know, but I appreciate everything about the story. It was because I could relate. Well, who doesn’t?

[Magan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reasons to read this book:

1. You want something fun and innocent, without any vulgarness or implications of sexuality.
2. You want a very lighthearted read that you can breeze through.
3. You like books with multiple points of view and knowing the full story from almost every perspective.
4. You REALLY like all things Diseny. :)

Reasons not to read this book:
1. It's incredibly predictable. Pretty much everything I thought would happen DID happen.
2. You like a lot of drama. There was an inkling of drama, but really not a ton. There wasn't a huge climactic point where everything seemed to be completely up in the air. Each character had his or her own problems all throughout the book.

Overall, this was a fun read. I don't really like that I don't know who the author was since this was put together after the Disney movie was made. It was written pretty well, but with a few too many exclamation marks for me. I am not the kind of girl that needs to be convinced something exciting is happening with the use of an exclamation mark.

My favorite character was the resident bad boy, Jesse. However, the whole book seems a little disjointed timeline wise, and it felt like it took half a day for him to whip himself into shape and fall in love with the girl.

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

i liked this book. i didnt think i would like it at first, but than im like, wat the heck this is awsome!!! PROM is about multiple people.

first there's nova who with the help of her friends mei,ali,rolo, and crush brandon, tries to make prom great by doing decorations and stuff. but when the decorations "MYSTERIOUSLY" burn up nova has to work with bad boy jesse to fix and replace them.

lucus has a crush on simone (his lab partner) and wants to ask her to go to prom with him, so he asks his best friend for help.

tyler is a jerk that is dating jordan and (sort of) simone. jordan has no idea about tyler but simone knows everything, even though she knows what she's doing is wrong.

mei and her boyfriend, justin have been dating for years and now there planning on going to the same collage and of course PROM. but than one day mei starts acting weird and is keeping secrets from justin.

ali and rolo are friends. ali has a date to the prom but when she asks rolo if he has one he says he does. he's dating a "SUPERMODLE" ali is than constantly bothering him about it.

Lloyd is known as the "INVISABLE GUY" in his school. he wants to find a date to the prom with the help of his step sister tess, but things dont go the way they planned.

[Mckayla Wolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prom:A Novel by Ellie O'Ryan
book review
This book was really good and a great book for teenagers a love story with drama that intreged the reader.Te hook was good i liked the romance and i could visualize it like it was playing before my eyes on a huge screen. The book called prom wasn't really based at prom but more at there high school.
The main characters in the book was like one of every kind of person you would meat the smart one who is a goody too shoes(nova) Jesse this miss understood bad boy and also some side characters that were important in the begining that wern't really towards the end.There was a lot of betrail love and loneliness in this book a lot of problems this book was more like 3 stories in one one main story and two other main stories so it hard to tell you all the problems because its like a puzzle . I would recommend this book to teens and kids who like romance and drama because this book has alot of it you should defanetly read.

[Kate Shanks · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Prom" is an enjoyable and lighthearted book which focuses on the trials of a wide group of high school students. Nova is the class president and in charge of organizing the high school's prom. She and the fellow prom committee members create posters, elaborate decorations, and finalize all the plans for a magical "starry night" prom. Unfortunately, the shed where they are keeping all these items is destroyed in a fire. With only three weeks to go until the big dance, Nova is left scrambling to recreate all that was destroyed. The principal employs the help of Jesse (the bad-boy) to help Nova as a way to ensure he graduates. The reader gets to follow these two characters along with several others in their quests to have a magical prom. After reading the book, I'm looking forward to watching the movie. I'm considering using the book as a read aloud in tutorial and then allowing the students to watch the Disney movie.

[Yendi Lagunas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book puts the reality behind prom. One of the best books to explain the pressure about prom. It was really easy to relate to some parts of the book. The book sometimes seems a little bit boring but it gets the reader attention again. It is predictable but it is a really god novel for teens. This book was given to me by my high school teacher after i went to prom and I felt like explained it just like it happen. I wished i read it before prom i went to prom so that i could not feel that i was the only one going through it. I saw the movie after not too many differences. A must read for teens.

[Alicia Paulino · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author tried to show it from all the different perspectives of all the characters like the move, but it didn't work out and ended up being a bit crowded and overworked. It kind of flipped from character to another causing confusion to whom you are actually reading about. If the writer had settled on just on main character then maybe it may have been better but all the different ones seemed a bit mashed up. But that is just my opinion yours may be different.

[Shyannej]

For Nova Prescott,a senior, it's always a battle of will as she drawn to the guy who gets in the way of her perfect prom. Other seniors Mei and Tyler keep secrets, while others face all the insecurity and anticipation that surrounds one of high school's biggest events. To her there are 100 days of school but only one prom. Nova and her friends are having meetings everyday after school about getting ready for that big day. But in the end, she couldn't have done any better.

[Jillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prom is the golden standard by which I measure all other movie novels against. Prom not only tells the story of the movie in the fleshed out way on words can, it does what every great movie novel should. It adds extra material. It has more substance to it, and I actually enjoy reading it more than I do watching Prom. Though I would rate Prom very high on my lists of movies about Prom. The list isn't really long, but still. Recommended!

[Katelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad for a book based solely on a movie.. one that I, myself, really want to see. What can I say? I'm a sucker for the whole good girl meets misunderstood boy love stories :)
I just can't help but think, if this were a book first, instead of a book based off of a screenplay, it would have been better.
But, all in all, not bad. It's short enough you can read it in a day, so why not?

[Karenina González · Rating 3 out of 5]

¡Me encantó! A pesar de estar llena de clichés y ser sumamente predecible esta adaptación de película a libro me hizo regresar en el tiempo a aquella época en que los clichés eran la cosa más romántica y perfecta del mundo, sacó a flote a la adolescente cursi que me esfuerzo tanto en ocultar... y me eso me alegra.

[Heather Cato · Rating 2 out of 5]

Help, I couldn't tell- Was I reading a novel or a screenplay? I loved the story and thought it was a descent twist on a prom story that has been told and retold, but I felt like I was reading a screen play the entire time

[Emily (Heinlen) Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was pretty predictable, but it was good. Apparently, it's based on a movie, but I've never seen the movie. I recommend it for a quick read. The characters are pretty stereotypical, but it's still fun none-the-less.

[Camilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was intrigued by a book based off of a movie. I'm glad that I chose to read this novel. It captured what high school students go through when prom comes along in today's society pretty accurately! I know its fiction, but it was great to read a book that could have been a true story. :D

[BCPL Youth Services Librarian]

Click to see book in BCPL's online catalog

[Melissa Witney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute quick read.

[aerin · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it!!!!! it was like a rollercoaster

[Mikaela]

This looks interesting... It does sound a lot like a disney movie though! Haha. Maybe I should just rent it from my local DVD place instead of reading it?

[Jayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just had to read this before watching the movie (which I loved). It was good!

[Lysa · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you haven't seen the movie yet (like me) you'll definitely love it.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was pretty good for being based on a movie. An easy read though.

[Jade Inks · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute rink a dink little novel.. didnt feel like going to the movies

[Phia]

I ADDED THIS ON MY TO-READ LIST?! WHAAAAT?!

[Lyons · Rating 4 out of 5]

fresh and inspiring

[Jalyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wasn't awful, but it was exactly like the movie.

[Cari Rebbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED!!!!!