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Prom
Ashley couldn't care less about prom- she Is too busy planning a life with her boyfriend, TJ.
But then she discovers that there might be more to prom- and life- than she thought..
But then she discovers that there might be more to prom- and life- than she thought..
249 pages, Unknown Binding
First published March 3, 2005
215 people are currently reading
4842 people want to read
About the author
Laurie Halse Anderson
100 books17.4k followersUPDATE! Rebellion 1776 is out! The New York Times wrote, "Filled with immersive detail, expert delineations of complex characters, and both harsh and loving reality, Rebellion 1776 provides young readers with a true experience of a historic moment in time that resonates with today's world." Huzzah!
Laurie Halse Anderson is the New York Times-bestselling author of many award-winning books including the groundbreaking, modern classic Speak, a National Book Award finalist which has sold over 3.5 million copies and been translated into 35 languages.
In 2023, Anderson was named the Laureate of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, long considered to be the de facto 'Nobel Prize for Children's Literature.'
A passionate spokesperson for the need to combat censorship, she has been honored for her battles for intellectual freedom by the National Coalition Against Censorship and the National Council of Teachers of English. She lives near Philadelphia. Go Birds!
Follow Laurie on Bluesky at @halseanderson.bsky.social, Instagram at halseanderson, and Facebook at lauriehalseanderson, or by visiting her website, madwomanintheforest.com.
Laurie Halse Anderson is the New York Times-bestselling author of many award-winning books including the groundbreaking, modern classic Speak, a National Book Award finalist which has sold over 3.5 million copies and been translated into 35 languages.
In 2023, Anderson was named the Laureate of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, long considered to be the de facto 'Nobel Prize for Children's Literature.'
A passionate spokesperson for the need to combat censorship, she has been honored for her battles for intellectual freedom by the National Coalition Against Censorship and the National Council of Teachers of English. She lives near Philadelphia. Go Birds!
Follow Laurie on Bluesky at @halseanderson.bsky.social, Instagram at halseanderson, and Facebook at lauriehalseanderson, or by visiting her website, madwomanintheforest.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 976 reviews
January 19, 2009
About 1/5th of the way into this book, I realized that this book was what an upper middle-class, suburban girl would write if she was writing about "normal", lower middle class kids.
Anderson starts referring to the number of kids that are crack-whores, in jail, etc. but none of the characters in the book get into any kind of "serious" trouble. This is simply not the truth for large groups of lower middle class kids. Many lower middle class kids have friends who get into serious trouble. Ashley hangs out with hard partying kids but none of them have consequences. That's an upper middle class reality, not the reality for families that are too cash strapped to get their kids a good lawyer.
The narrator, Ashley, lacks authenticity. She just doesn't feel real. She has a bazillion detentions but doesn't ever earn them during the book. She seems to ditch class regularly but the consequences aren't real (i.e. tickets, contracts, court dates, etc.). The book, on the whole, is sweet, but it lacks truth. Skip Prom and go read My Most Excellent Year, a story about truly "normal" kids.
Anderson starts referring to the number of kids that are crack-whores, in jail, etc. but none of the characters in the book get into any kind of "serious" trouble. This is simply not the truth for large groups of lower middle class kids. Many lower middle class kids have friends who get into serious trouble. Ashley hangs out with hard partying kids but none of them have consequences. That's an upper middle class reality, not the reality for families that are too cash strapped to get their kids a good lawyer.
The narrator, Ashley, lacks authenticity. She just doesn't feel real. She has a bazillion detentions but doesn't ever earn them during the book. She seems to ditch class regularly but the consequences aren't real (i.e. tickets, contracts, court dates, etc.). The book, on the whole, is sweet, but it lacks truth. Skip Prom and go read My Most Excellent Year, a story about truly "normal" kids.
April 5, 2009
I've mentioned this before but Halse Anderson's Speak is one of my all time favorite books, YA or otherwise. I recently discovered that she's written a handful of other books, so I've been chugging through them. So far none has been anywhere near as well written as Speak, but Twisted and Catalyst were competent and better than most of that YA drivel that is out there.
Prom, however, is a complete turd. Total dud. Halse Anderson generally gives her characters a fantastic voice. Her narrators sound like actual teenagers for the most part. But not Ashley, the narrator of Prom. Whereas in her other books, the narrators are upper middle class kids attending suburban high schools with realistic fucked up families and problems, in this book, Halse Anderson attempts to write from the point of view of a "normal" kid--her choice of word, not mine. Her vision of normal is set in an inner-city high school in Philadelphia and instead of seeming realistic, it reads how an upper middle class suburban kid would picture students attending an inner-city school. Maybe they aren't going to college, but they sure will graduate from high school! And their families are just large and poor; but they're poor because their parents have working class jobs. No one does drugs or anything worse than drinking. And, of course, prom is like the most important thing ever and everyone has gobs of money to spend on the dance. It's ridiculous and patronizing. And I realize I'm not exactly one to talk, being an upper-middle class suburban kid myself, but Christ, Laurie, put The Wire on your Netflix queue and realize you know nothing about the world you tried to present in this book.
Prom, however, is a complete turd. Total dud. Halse Anderson generally gives her characters a fantastic voice. Her narrators sound like actual teenagers for the most part. But not Ashley, the narrator of Prom. Whereas in her other books, the narrators are upper middle class kids attending suburban high schools with realistic fucked up families and problems, in this book, Halse Anderson attempts to write from the point of view of a "normal" kid--her choice of word, not mine. Her vision of normal is set in an inner-city high school in Philadelphia and instead of seeming realistic, it reads how an upper middle class suburban kid would picture students attending an inner-city school. Maybe they aren't going to college, but they sure will graduate from high school! And their families are just large and poor; but they're poor because their parents have working class jobs. No one does drugs or anything worse than drinking. And, of course, prom is like the most important thing ever and everyone has gobs of money to spend on the dance. It's ridiculous and patronizing. And I realize I'm not exactly one to talk, being an upper-middle class suburban kid myself, but Christ, Laurie, put The Wire on your Netflix queue and realize you know nothing about the world you tried to present in this book.
October 30, 2022
***Re-read in May 2019***
I cannot believe I went for only four stars back in 2009. When I reread the book in 2015, I added the missing one with an irritated tsk of my tongue and gushed together a review. And now, I have to simply say "I love that book." It's a favorite, that keeps getting better with every re-read. Kind of perfect, isn't it?
*** Read first in October 2009, Re-read and reviewed in November 2015 ***
Sad, funny, very realistic (no high-school fairytale) and quotable:
Underprivileged high-school senior Ashley Hannigan tries hard not to drop out of school during the last months. She has more detentions lined-up than days left to sit them off, works her butt off at a pizza parlor in a Romping Rat costume, lives with three siblings and another in the making in a house that is constantly under repair, because her dad has more enthusiasm than time or money, and dates bass-ass TJ, who is not allowed to show himself on school-grounds anymore, but is proud to have secured a one-room-flat with a curtained-off loo for himself and the woman of his dreams.
Ashley's best friend is Natalia, daughter of the Russian immigrants next door (Nat's grandmother as well as Ash's mother's numerous sisters provide the light and hilarious moments during the story's course) and head of the prom committee. When the prom is in danger of being canceled, because a teacher stole the prom money, Natalia is devastated and Ashley - prom hater superieur - finds herself up to her neck involved in reorganizing a cheaper alternative - just in order to fulfill her best-friend's dream, her life and her attitude towards herself and her future slowly begin to change.
The story about a self-proclaimed 'normal' kid, bored, down-to-earth, without big dreams and almost no chance against a prejudiced vice principal, touched a core, when that kid decides to get her friend her 'night to remember' no matter the hardship.
I have read reviews by readers who believe Ashley to be hard to like. I liked her spontaneously and effortlessly. But she is certainly no princess, even if her father calls her that and she spends too much time doing her nails. She is an underdog. And I was very pleased to see that things turned out realistically fine for her.
I cannot believe I went for only four stars back in 2009. When I reread the book in 2015, I added the missing one with an irritated tsk of my tongue and gushed together a review. And now, I have to simply say "I love that book." It's a favorite, that keeps getting better with every re-read. Kind of perfect, isn't it?
*** Read first in October 2009, Re-read and reviewed in November 2015 ***
Sad, funny, very realistic (no high-school fairytale) and quotable:
Underprivileged high-school senior Ashley Hannigan tries hard not to drop out of school during the last months. She has more detentions lined-up than days left to sit them off, works her butt off at a pizza parlor in a Romping Rat costume, lives with three siblings and another in the making in a house that is constantly under repair, because her dad has more enthusiasm than time or money, and dates bass-ass TJ, who is not allowed to show himself on school-grounds anymore, but is proud to have secured a one-room-flat with a curtained-off loo for himself and the woman of his dreams.
Ashley's best friend is Natalia, daughter of the Russian immigrants next door (Nat's grandmother as well as Ash's mother's numerous sisters provide the light and hilarious moments during the story's course) and head of the prom committee. When the prom is in danger of being canceled, because a teacher stole the prom money, Natalia is devastated and Ashley - prom hater superieur - finds herself up to her neck involved in reorganizing a cheaper alternative - just in order to fulfill her best-friend's dream, her life and her attitude towards herself and her future slowly begin to change.
The story about a self-proclaimed 'normal' kid, bored, down-to-earth, without big dreams and almost no chance against a prejudiced vice principal, touched a core, when that kid decides to get her friend her 'night to remember' no matter the hardship.
I have read reviews by readers who believe Ashley to be hard to like. I liked her spontaneously and effortlessly. But she is certainly no princess, even if her father calls her that and she spends too much time doing her nails. She is an underdog. And I was very pleased to see that things turned out realistically fine for her.
May 17, 2013
Anderson's niche is young adult novels about suburban, middle-class white girls with dysfunctional families and real-world, pressing issues. She is uncannily good at getting into the minds of this particular kind of adolescent girl, and she tends to present these characters as engaging and true-to-life, even (or especially) when they aren't exactly being the most sympathetic people at the time.
And then there's Ashley Hannigan...
Ashley Hannigan, a working-class girl with a part-time crappy retail job who somehow manages to come across as a spoiled whiny brat despite having almost nothing materially. How did she manage such a feat? Not sure, but after suffering through the 200-odd pages of her constantly whining and bitching and moaning and shitting on everyone else's attempts to give their lives hope and meaning, I was about ready to slap her. Her inner dialogue about her family was supposed to come across with a kind of good-natured, teasing gruffness, I guess, but instead it honestly read as hateful to me, like she genuinely thought all these nasty things about her family instead of exaggerating her embarrassment for comedic effect as teenagers tend to do.
Literally all she does the entire novel is gripe and moan and be a total buzzkill. Ashley is a fun sponge, and furthermore she comes across as a huge bitch about it because it's obvious why all her friends care so much about having a nice prom - because they have NOTHING ELSE going for them. Ashley even acknowledges at several points in the book that she understands why prom is so important to her friends, particularly her best friend, and yet she still won't shut the fuck up and just spend a week (a week! not even a month!) helping them out with it. Then at the last second based on what another reviewer said I resent even having to spoilerwarn for that since it's so glaringly obvious, but there ya go.
I think Anderson was going for funny, here, with the constant whining? Like, it was supposed to be some kind of witty sarcasm? The book is clearly supposed to be a light-hearted read for kids who may otherwise not read much or at all for pleasure; the target audience is supposed to be girls like Ashley, who describes herself as "normal," by which she means working-class kids who aren't taking AP classes or applying for state colleges or whatever and for whom graduating high school is not really expected. To that end, you'd have to show this book to some kids like that to get their reaction, because I am not a teen about to graduate from an inner-city high school, but I'm pretty sure if I were around that age when I read this, I would have chucked the book in the bin not even halfway through. It feels kind of patronizing, like a 7th Heaven version of ~bad kids~ in high school, where nothing really bad ever happens but is only alluded to, and teens smoke and drink mini bottles of flavoured vodka as if that's scandalous. Like, I went to a good (and brand-new!) school and none of that was shocking or even out of the ordinary to me. Even then I would have thought, "damn this bitch is spoiled." Then again, I was the kid who was mortally offended at being compared to Holden Caulfield, a comparison that was probably not strictly inaccurate, as I was probably as much of a little shit as both him and Ashley Hannigan here.
I still don't like Ashley. Fight me.
It doesn't help that the book is dated. Not dated enough to where you can say it's kind of a period piece, like the Sweet Valley High books before they got updated, but just dated enough that it makes the book seem even more out of touch with the real world than it already is. To be fair, this is not the author's fault at all, the book was probably pretty up-to-date when it was written, it's just an unfortunate side effect of writing novels about teens - technology progresses so rapidly in five, three, even one year, and suddenly you're like, "How does this teenage girl not have her own cell phone? How does she not even know how to use one well enough to know how to turn it off? Who actually uses pay phones? Doesn't anyone here use any kind of social media site? They still make flyers by hand to pass information around?" There's a passage where Ashley suggests they make a video advertising prom and "put it on cable TV," rejected by her friend because it would take "an entire year," obviously dating the book as being from the pre-Youtube-and-Facebook era. Nothing Anderson can do about that, really, but it's just one more thing working against this.
Two more things working against this and then I promise I'll shut up. First: none of the characters in this book feel like real people. The antics they get up to feel like fake, forced "funny" or "crazy" anecdotes someone in a beginner's creative writing class might come up with to pad out a conversation. The crazy old lady next door who breaks into the church baptismal pool and swims around! Ashley's wacky family! Her shrieking harpy friends who care about dumb stupid girl things like EWW PROM, unlike ASHLEY, who's NOT LIKE THE OTHER GIRLS!! Gag me.
And the second thing... So let's talk about TJ.
TJ is Ashley's boyfriend. He's 19 (she's 18), a high school dropout (it is implied he was more or less driven out by the principal/assistant principal/whatever), and from a family that is, as Ashley says in the book, "government-cheese-for-dinner poor." He has a sister with a newborn infant and appears to be living in a single-parent household. He doesn't have a car of his own, but he does have a job (or several), and it is heavily implied that he mostly makes his money through some kind of underhanded means.
(Probably not drug pushing, because Anderson is careful in portraying her protagonist's disdain for drug use - in fact drug use is only visible in the periphery of this novel that's ostensibly supposed to be about "gritty" inner-city life, drugs referenced only by nameless, faceless drug dealers lurking on city blocks and the again nameless, faceless "crack whores" who Ashley says attend her school. I'm thinking what happened here is Anderson decided to portray underage drinking as an acceptable kind of teen experimentation but thought that unintentionally advocating drug use to her target audience would have been too much, so she steered away from it. Fair enough.)
Anyway, so, TJ. He blows her off at one point early in the book, but then apologises profusely for it. He finds them an apartment, albeit a really shitty one that doesn't even have a real bathroom or kitchen, and he pays for it all himself despite the poverty he comes from. (He suggests to Ashley that she start working full-time or get a second job to help them with their finances. This is not unreasonable considering she's only a few weeks away from finishing high school.) And we are supposed to hate this guy. We're supposed to see him as a big loser who's ruining Ashley's bright potential.
But uh...
So I had a hard time hating him the way the text kind of seemed like it wanted you to. Compared to Edward Cullen and Christian Grey, TJ is fucking Prince Charming. Maybe I'm just tired of "bad boys" in young adult fiction who are just slightly scruffier versions of their clean-cut "good boy" love triangle counterparts? Maybe I've just been looking for a ~bad boy~ in YA fiction who actually sort of resembles a real-life human being and not a creepy abusive sack of shit. Who knows!
Anderson really needs to stick to what she knows - upper-middle-class white girls from Connecticut or Maryland or whatever. Nothing in this book is realistic; it reads much more like what a nice middle-class lady thinks the ~Scary Inner City Urban Youths~ are like. (Crack whores! People go to jail! Teenagers do terrible, bad, naughty things like, get this, skip class and drink wine coolers!!) No research went into this, and no thought, so I have no idea why I'm leaving a thoughtful critique on a really thoughtless book, but I have Feelings about YA, I guess, so there you go. It was also disappointing to come to this book after reading Wintergirls, which has problems but is complex and well-written, and Speak, which is basically perfect.
Tl;dr: New to Anderson? Looking for a good YA novel for your grumpy, caustic but bright teen daughter, niece or friend? I'd recommend "Speak" first. (Do not try "Wintergirls," not unless you're sure your kid is well-adjusted enough to not be triggered by it; I don't think that book should be recommended to teens unless it's by an adult who is prepared to have a conversation about body image, eating disorders, self-injury, mental illness and psychiatry with them.) As an adult reader, I wouldn't recommend this at all, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to give it to a teen who likes light, fluffy books that aren't particularly challenging and who could stand to do some more reading. (Which is probably condescending of me, but I think any kid who really loves to read would find this novel frustratingly fluffy or patronizing.) If you or your kid are interested in actual ~Gritty Urban Inner-City Realness~, though, then try the urban fiction section, with books written by people who have probably stepped foot outside of a gated community.
January 15, 2009
My first modern YA book that I've read for my class this semester. First of all, I forgot how awesomely easy it is to read at a lower reading level, these books are going to go fast!
I thought this book would be kind of cheesy, girly story about prom that would have existed in my day, a Sweet Valley High-like story, but I was pleasantly surprised. The story is about a girl who lives a low income life in Philly and ends up getting involved with prom after a teacher steals all the prom funds. I really liked the main character and that the author did a good job of showing low-income life without being cynical, preachy or looking down for the characters. You don't often see stories written from the point of view of the kids not bound for college or parents who can't afford to buy prom dresses and you especially don't see them without any hint of "let's collectively pity these kids and make an ending that will show us 'they' can become like 'us' if they really try". Reading this book made me realize how many other stories take this attitude.
One shock I had is that the author allows the character to cuss and that the character also is sexually active. But I liked that the author approached both things like they were just part of her world and not overly discussed or infected with drama.
I really liked this book.
I thought this book would be kind of cheesy, girly story about prom that would have existed in my day, a Sweet Valley High-like story, but I was pleasantly surprised. The story is about a girl who lives a low income life in Philly and ends up getting involved with prom after a teacher steals all the prom funds. I really liked the main character and that the author did a good job of showing low-income life without being cynical, preachy or looking down for the characters. You don't often see stories written from the point of view of the kids not bound for college or parents who can't afford to buy prom dresses and you especially don't see them without any hint of "let's collectively pity these kids and make an ending that will show us 'they' can become like 'us' if they really try". Reading this book made me realize how many other stories take this attitude.
One shock I had is that the author allows the character to cuss and that the character also is sexually active. But I liked that the author approached both things like they were just part of her world and not overly discussed or infected with drama.
I really liked this book.
December 29, 2021
Ashley is not excited about her school’s prom. In fact, she keeps making excuses to her best friend, head of the prom committee, as to why she can’t help with the committee. She soon finds herself roped into helping, though, and decides that maybe prom’s not so bad.
I liked reading about Ashley and her character growth. Ashley definitely wasn’t perfect nor did she pretend to be. I do think I would have enjoyed this book a bit more in high school, but I did still like it.
I liked reading about Ashley and her character growth. Ashley definitely wasn’t perfect nor did she pretend to be. I do think I would have enjoyed this book a bit more in high school, but I did still like it.
April 5, 2021
I feel like this was turned into a movie.. but I just never saw it. I don't think I ever will.
Prom was an okay book. Okay, I lied.. it was a meh book. Not my favorite but I also didn't extremely hate it either. Okay, lied again.. because yeah - nope, definitely didn't like this book. Near hatred.
In it, you will meet Ashley. She was anokay horrible character and I wasn't invested in her whole life story. For some reason, I just couldn't find anything likable about her. Or anyone in this book if I'm being completely honest. She just whined a lot and it kept rubbing me the wrong way. Plus her friends were really annoying and I just wanted to slap them all.
Then there's her high school dropout older boyfriend, who was also meh. Prince of meh's if you want. He did absolutely nothing for me as well. If they are happy together living in a honey pot, I would be okay with all that. I just didn't care about them in this book.
Other than that, this book was just really boring and it felt like certain things were forced at me. So it was definitely awkward but thankfully this was a short book to zoom through.
Prom was an okay book. Okay, I lied.. it was a meh book. Not my favorite but I also didn't extremely hate it either. Okay, lied again.. because yeah - nope, definitely didn't like this book. Near hatred.
In it, you will meet Ashley. She was an
Then there's her high school dropout older boyfriend, who was also meh. Prince of meh's if you want. He did absolutely nothing for me as well. If they are happy together living in a honey pot, I would be okay with all that. I just didn't care about them in this book.
Other than that, this book was just really boring and it felt like certain things were forced at me. So it was definitely awkward but thankfully this was a short book to zoom through.
April 19, 2017
Cute, but not spectacular. I did appreciate the realness of the characters, though.
June 29, 2013
I had high hopes for this book since I like most everything Laurie Halse Anderson does, but this book was a bit of a disappointment. I like to read young adult literature to put in my classroom and to suggest to my children, but this one will not be high on my recommendation list. It tells the story of Ashley, who is a senior in high school and is seriously dating her boyfriend, TJ, and they are discussing moving into and apartment. He has dropped out of school, and Ashley is barely hanging on. Her family is poor, but her mother in expecting child number 5, as Ashley has 3 younger brothers. Her father says he is making her a room in the basement so she will no longer have to share with her brother, but she has little faith in him. Her best friend, Natalia, who lives next door, is helping to organize the prom. But the young female math teacher has been arrested for stealing the prom money, so the students are told there will be no prom. For reasons unbeknownst to Ashley, she volunteers to assist her friend Nat in finding ways to make the prom happen. Nat's grandmother, who is Russian, also lives with them, and seems a bit senile, only speaking in Russian and eating ravioli out of the can. Ashley works in a place very similar to Chuck E Cheese, which she hates, and her boyfriend talks about working but never seems to have a job. The girls find a way to have the prom in the gym, Ashley finds a way to get a new dress, which her mom proceeds to destroy in the wash, but Ashley doesn't care - she does not see any value in the prom. But in the end, she decides she wants to go as she has been a vital part of the prom planning committee. But the vice-principal tells her she cannot attend since she owes too many detentions. When grandma goes missing, Ashley decides that she must find her since Nat is at the prom with her father since she broke her leg trying t climb the stairs in high heels, and grandma had made Ashley a beautiful dress after her mother had ruined hers. They end up at the high school, where Ashley decides to dump her loser boyfriend TJ who had found a disgusting apartment for them and only cared about getting her clothes off to use the condoms she had gotten for the prom, and getting high. With a diversion from her mother, Ashley is able to go and enjoy the prom with her friends, until she is arrested for trespassing... What I did not like about this book was that I never really felt anything for the characters. they were not fully developed, and you never bought into their troubles or their victories. While Ashley has some very admirable qualities, you just never seemed to like her enough to care.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 22, 2009
Laurie Halse Anderson has long provided voice to the kind of teens that are overlooked by other authors – the lonely introvert in Speak, the college-obsessed Type A personality in Catalyst – and, in Prom, she turns her attention to the ‘normal’ kid. Ashley isn’t going to college; her ambitions don’t stretch further than having enough money to buy a car. She has plenty of friends, but she’s not the popular girl. She has a boyfriend, but it’s not exactly true love.
Unfortunately, there’s little plot to be found amid this carefully-constructed milieu of average-ness. Anderson is excellent at world-building, adding small touches that are both true and telling (e.g. fights at school are pure sport, just as long as the boys fighting are of the same race – if not, panic). The author also has a knack for creating comic situations and absurd details. The result is not quite laugh-out-loud hilarious, but it raises the odd chuckle.
However, Ashley is not a very sympathetic or interesting heroine. Anderson’s guiding moral in her teen books seems to be that community involvement and helping people will give your life more meaning. It’s a laudable message (and one that I agree with, broadly), but it leads to plotlines that are on the dull side. Prom’s central story, of teens banding together to save the prom at the last minute, is clearly a catalyst for Ashley to Become A Better Person, but I prefer my character development to be a little more subtle.
I’m also not sure Anderson’s ventriloquism of a white-trash teenage girl quite hits the mark. Regardless, choosing a first person POV centred around a girl who is wilfully sub-literate (Ashley doesn’t read; she’s never used the school library) robs the story of much of the texture that I enjoy in novels (e.g. metaphors, allusions – even simple thoughtful introspection).
It’s an inoffensive little book and Anderson is clearly a skilled writer – but I can’t help but feel that these talents have been better deployed elsewhere.
(Some spoilery thoughts below.)
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
After the prom denouement, Anderson dispatches the story’s various conclusions in lightning-quick summary narrative. It’s all a bit disappointing. The underwhelming conclusion of Ashley’s relationship with TJ irritated me the most – it was never clear how and why she had the epiphany that he wasn’t good for her. The repeated assertion that if she moved in with him, she’d wind up pregnant (why? they were already having sex – and using birth control) was particularly odd. Dumping TJ dovetailed problematically with Ashley’s decision to go to community college – as if she needed to be celibate and alone in order to secure a better future for herself. I’m not sure this was the message that Anderson intended, but it was the one that came across to me.
Unfortunately, there’s little plot to be found amid this carefully-constructed milieu of average-ness. Anderson is excellent at world-building, adding small touches that are both true and telling (e.g. fights at school are pure sport, just as long as the boys fighting are of the same race – if not, panic). The author also has a knack for creating comic situations and absurd details. The result is not quite laugh-out-loud hilarious, but it raises the odd chuckle.
However, Ashley is not a very sympathetic or interesting heroine. Anderson’s guiding moral in her teen books seems to be that community involvement and helping people will give your life more meaning. It’s a laudable message (and one that I agree with, broadly), but it leads to plotlines that are on the dull side. Prom’s central story, of teens banding together to save the prom at the last minute, is clearly a catalyst for Ashley to Become A Better Person, but I prefer my character development to be a little more subtle.
I’m also not sure Anderson’s ventriloquism of a white-trash teenage girl quite hits the mark. Regardless, choosing a first person POV centred around a girl who is wilfully sub-literate (Ashley doesn’t read; she’s never used the school library) robs the story of much of the texture that I enjoy in novels (e.g. metaphors, allusions – even simple thoughtful introspection).
It’s an inoffensive little book and Anderson is clearly a skilled writer – but I can’t help but feel that these talents have been better deployed elsewhere.
(Some spoilery thoughts below.)
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
After the prom denouement, Anderson dispatches the story’s various conclusions in lightning-quick summary narrative. It’s all a bit disappointing. The underwhelming conclusion of Ashley’s relationship with TJ irritated me the most – it was never clear how and why she had the epiphany that he wasn’t good for her. The repeated assertion that if she moved in with him, she’d wind up pregnant (why? they were already having sex – and using birth control) was particularly odd. Dumping TJ dovetailed problematically with Ashley’s decision to go to community college – as if she needed to be celibate and alone in order to secure a better future for herself. I’m not sure this was the message that Anderson intended, but it was the one that came across to me.
November 21, 2008
This book "prom" is about a tradgedy that happend at school (more like a crime), and prom might be called off. Everyone now has to save the prom on time, and forget all about there lives.
its a good book, It had me sucked in on some parts, and bored on others, but in all it had a lot of action and things to look foward to reading. The characters are interesting and the drama is fantastic. i enjoyed reading this book, its given me so many laughs.
i really hope you read this book, you will enjoy it, just like i have.
its a good book, It had me sucked in on some parts, and bored on others, but in all it had a lot of action and things to look foward to reading. The characters are interesting and the drama is fantastic. i enjoyed reading this book, its given me so many laughs.
i really hope you read this book, you will enjoy it, just like i have.
June 24, 2021
an average book. tbh i read it to get it off my TBR and because i needed something slow and unemotional after a little life; it fulfilled its purpose
November 25, 2012
The book Prom by Laurie Halse Anderson is a young adult, realistic fiction story about an eighteen-year-old girl named Ashley Hannigan (Ash, for short) who goes to Philadelphia high school and DOES NOT have any interest for the school prom. On the other hand, her best friend Natalia (Nat, for short) is the head of the prom committee and has been waiting for prom ever since she started high school, she has “prom stars in her eyes.” When the prom committee found out that the school faculty advisor stole all of the prom money, Ash suddenly found herself roped into putting together the a completely new prom from absolutely nothing. She get’s help from her “large and loving family”— who she is not particularly fond of, from Nat’s unusual grandmother, from the principal, and some of her fellow classmates, but still, she is not the type of girl to plan a prom. Ashley is what you would call an “average teenager,” but she is the type of girl you want to watch out for. She has a sketchy boyfriend named TJ who has been in jail, drives over the speed limit, ditches school, and just plainly always seems to be up to no good. Ash is thinking about starting to smoke, she skips school, doesn’t do her homework, gets drunk and just isn’t the type of sweet friendly girl you would find playing with American Girl Dolls. Personally, I felt that the book was a real page-turner. The fact that Ashley has such a different lifestyle to mine, made it a very exciting read for me. Overall, I would defiantly read Prom again!
April 9, 2008
This book was very interesting to me it started off with this girl named natalie who was in highschool and she was dating this guy who had droped out of highschool. Her best friend
was the head of like every committee in school and she was just
the girl that rarely like school.
Then she was havien problems at school so she gto in detention for being late for the fifth or sixth time that semester and
her friend needed help planniong the prom so she asked the principle to let her do that instead of detention because she hated doing school related things. She let her and after that
she started to like planning the prom.
Then with her teacher stole all the money for the prom and every body was devastated about not being able to have a prom so she came up with idea to fundraise and her bset friend's grandmother was sick so she ahd to do thing by her self and she pulled it off wiht the help of her boyfriend,whe decided to go back highschool to finish.
In conclusion thi is a good book for girls in their teens to read and its very realistic about school and thing that occur inside of highschool and things that go on in life. Like boy friend troubles and teacher scandels and cancelling Prom.
was the head of like every committee in school and she was just
the girl that rarely like school.
Then she was havien problems at school so she gto in detention for being late for the fifth or sixth time that semester and
her friend needed help planniong the prom so she asked the principle to let her do that instead of detention because she hated doing school related things. She let her and after that
she started to like planning the prom.
Then with her teacher stole all the money for the prom and every body was devastated about not being able to have a prom so she came up with idea to fundraise and her bset friend's grandmother was sick so she ahd to do thing by her self and she pulled it off wiht the help of her boyfriend,whe decided to go back highschool to finish.
In conclusion thi is a good book for girls in their teens to read and its very realistic about school and thing that occur inside of highschool and things that go on in life. Like boy friend troubles and teacher scandels and cancelling Prom.
December 17, 2015
This was an okay story. I had a bit of a deja vu moment while reading this book. When I was in high school, I somehow got stuck helping the prom committee with my friends, and then I was forced to go to prom, and I actually I more fun than I thought I was going to. This is exactly what Ashley just went through, so I know this book was actually kind of realistic. However, all the other characters fell flat for me and I really had no interest in what was going on. I really only kept reading it to see if I could find more similarities between me and the main character. Not the worst book, but not the best either.
November 28, 2009
The narrator of this novel, Ashley, is a self-proclaimed "normal" high school senior who has no desire to go to her prom. However, she gets roped into making the prom happen when her best friend and prom enthusiast, Nat, needs her help when a teacher steals the funding. Ashley is an average kid with average problems, but her wit and insight, along with an eccentric cast, really make this book shine. Don't be fooled by the girly title and cover, this is a book you don't want to miss. I've read it twice now, and its just entertaining.
March 16, 2017
I listened to the audiobook because Katherine Kellgren narrates it and I love her.
I've read some of the negative reviews about this and feel that they are too harsh. I enjoyed this and loved Ash's family. The characters were likable and people do really go out all big for the prom, even if they do it on a budget.
Lots of swearing, drinking, and talking about sex (these are high school seniors after all).
I've read some of the negative reviews about this and feel that they are too harsh. I enjoyed this and loved Ash's family. The characters were likable and people do really go out all big for the prom, even if they do it on a budget.
Lots of swearing, drinking, and talking about sex (these are high school seniors after all).
January 5, 2013
I really enjoyed this book because who doesn't like to read books about prom? It was romantic, at times, (if you read it, you'll know what I mean), and was really Girly and fun. I don't know if the movie Prom is based on this book because I haven't watched it in a long time, but I hope it is! A great quick read for any teenage girl wishing for their prom to come quicker. ;)
October 21, 2015
I liked this book a lot to be honest and found myself wanting to pick it up. I can understand why it has some bad reviews as it doesn't really have much of a plot but for me it was just super fun to read. I loved the main characters and found myself laughing out loud quite a few times. Not bad for blindly picking this up at the library!
April 8, 2019
This was such a fun cheeky book. It was a great read that I really enjoyed listening to. I was bored one night between classes and listened to this very fun YA book. If you are looking for a fun YA book that doesn't take much time to read. I can recommend this one.
July 14, 2015
Kind of a meh book for Laurie Halse Anderson. Especially since I love her.
November 28, 2015
Fun read, very different from Speak.
September 14, 2018
pretty light and not super true to life, but it made me laugh.
May 21, 2021
OK, so apparently Laurie Halse Anderson can be a bit hit-and-miss with me.
"Prom" is definitely not going to make it to my favourites list.
And, ok, the subject matter isn't exactly one that would naturally pique my interest - prom isn't a topic that has ever particularly occupied my attention - but given Anderson's proficiency with the YA genre, I still expected more from this.
Let's start with a quick recap.
Ashley doesn't really give a crap about prom. Or school. She wants to get an apartment with her boyfriend TJ, and this is her main focus. But when the money for prom is stolen, and it looks like the whole thing might end up being cancelled, Ashley is roped into helping the prom committee fix the problem.
Now, if you're thinking that this sounds like rather a dull plot concept, you're right. It is.
First of all, I don't think there's any doubt that you have to care about high school dances 900% more than I do to find this book engaging.
Still, this is not the book's only problem.
Its main problem is how it portrays inner city kids (and I see several other reviewers have commented on this). The real problems these communities often face are only mentioned in passing and left securely in the background, almost as if they don't matter.
Additionally, the word "normal" is thrown around as if it's a set definition.
Kids like Ashley, and other inner city kids like her, kids who don't go to good colleges or do well in school, they are "normal". And the rest are, what, "abnormal"?
I get that "normal" is used in an attempt to, well, normalise the experiences of kids like Ashley, kids who don't have it made, but using this term actually just serves to create more distance. Additionally, as I've already intimated, it puts the rest of the student population in the vague, but negative, "abnormal" category.
It also creates the false impression that these so-called "normal" students are powerless to do anything about their situation, as if their fates are decided for them.
This brings me on to this book's next big issue, and that is its narrator.
Ashley is, quite simply, not very likable.
Yes, her family is poor and a little annoying, but they're loving and supportive, he parents don't steal, cheat, drink excessively, or do drugs, and yet Ashley complains about them as if they are the worst family on the planet.
She hangs on to a boyfriend who is, very obviously, a bad influence and a complete loser, and we have to watch her live in this forced illusion of him for most of the book.
She complains, whines, and whinges, all the while doing exceptionally little to better her own situation. She's lazy, unmotivated, untalented, and negative.
She presents her situation as if her status as "normal" kid prevents her from being successful, and yet it's perfectly plain that she's prevented from being successful by her own unwillingness to do any actual work.
Now, before I go on, I should mention that a personal development does, naturally, occur, and the main character does have some aha! moments along the way, but honestly, much of it is too little too late for me. She has spent so much of the book being so thoroughly unlikable that in the end, I don't really give a crap what happens to her.
So, yeah.
On the positive side, the prose is simple, so this isn't a tough read, and the book is split into short, easy chapters, so the reader can find many welcome breaks in the text. Anderson's descriptions of people are also entertaining (and often sarcastic) and provide some much needed amusement.
To sum up, this was an underwhelming, somewhat dull read. Perhaps teenagers who feel they have a little more in common with Ashley might find it more interesting.
"Prom" is definitely not going to make it to my favourites list.
And, ok, the subject matter isn't exactly one that would naturally pique my interest - prom isn't a topic that has ever particularly occupied my attention - but given Anderson's proficiency with the YA genre, I still expected more from this.
Let's start with a quick recap.
Ashley doesn't really give a crap about prom. Or school. She wants to get an apartment with her boyfriend TJ, and this is her main focus. But when the money for prom is stolen, and it looks like the whole thing might end up being cancelled, Ashley is roped into helping the prom committee fix the problem.
Now, if you're thinking that this sounds like rather a dull plot concept, you're right. It is.
First of all, I don't think there's any doubt that you have to care about high school dances 900% more than I do to find this book engaging.
Still, this is not the book's only problem.
Its main problem is how it portrays inner city kids (and I see several other reviewers have commented on this). The real problems these communities often face are only mentioned in passing and left securely in the background, almost as if they don't matter.
Additionally, the word "normal" is thrown around as if it's a set definition.
Kids like Ashley, and other inner city kids like her, kids who don't go to good colleges or do well in school, they are "normal". And the rest are, what, "abnormal"?
I get that "normal" is used in an attempt to, well, normalise the experiences of kids like Ashley, kids who don't have it made, but using this term actually just serves to create more distance. Additionally, as I've already intimated, it puts the rest of the student population in the vague, but negative, "abnormal" category.
It also creates the false impression that these so-called "normal" students are powerless to do anything about their situation, as if their fates are decided for them.
This brings me on to this book's next big issue, and that is its narrator.
Ashley is, quite simply, not very likable.
Yes, her family is poor and a little annoying, but they're loving and supportive, he parents don't steal, cheat, drink excessively, or do drugs, and yet Ashley complains about them as if they are the worst family on the planet.
She hangs on to a boyfriend who is, very obviously, a bad influence and a complete loser, and we have to watch her live in this forced illusion of him for most of the book.
She complains, whines, and whinges, all the while doing exceptionally little to better her own situation. She's lazy, unmotivated, untalented, and negative.
She presents her situation as if her status as "normal" kid prevents her from being successful, and yet it's perfectly plain that she's prevented from being successful by her own unwillingness to do any actual work.
Now, before I go on, I should mention that a personal development does, naturally, occur, and the main character does have some aha! moments along the way, but honestly, much of it is too little too late for me. She has spent so much of the book being so thoroughly unlikable that in the end, I don't really give a crap what happens to her.
So, yeah.
On the positive side, the prose is simple, so this isn't a tough read, and the book is split into short, easy chapters, so the reader can find many welcome breaks in the text. Anderson's descriptions of people are also entertaining (and often sarcastic) and provide some much needed amusement.
To sum up, this was an underwhelming, somewhat dull read. Perhaps teenagers who feel they have a little more in common with Ashley might find it more interesting.
October 30, 2019
Ashley Hannigan is not going to the prom. In fact, she thinks it's stupid. So when the head of the prom committee get arrested for stealing the prom money, Ashley doesn't care. Her best friend, Natalia, cares, though. Nat employs Ashley to help out with the prom, and Ashley reluctantly agrees. After all, it will take a miracle to have this prom.
Not my favorite Laurie Halse Anderson novel. Is Ashley one of the "normal kids"? I would think "normal kids" to be like myself: gets good/okay grades but can't wait for school to end, mild, friendly but aloof. I see Ashley as more of the troubled kids. That's just my opinion.
The plot wasn't exactly thrilling. It was mild and basic. It was actually kind of dull (like this review). I wasn't rooting for anyone in particular. It was missing the WOW factor. It was just "one of those" books.
I guess I would recommend it to fans of Laurie Halse Anderson. It had the feel of Adam Silvera's More Happy Than Not . Not exactly great, but not exactly terrible. It was just there.
Not my favorite Laurie Halse Anderson novel. Is Ashley one of the "normal kids"? I would think "normal kids" to be like myself: gets good/okay grades but can't wait for school to end, mild, friendly but aloof. I see Ashley as more of the troubled kids. That's just my opinion.
The plot wasn't exactly thrilling. It was mild and basic. It was actually kind of dull (like this review). I wasn't rooting for anyone in particular. It was missing the WOW factor. It was just "one of those" books.
I guess I would recommend it to fans of Laurie Halse Anderson. It had the feel of Adam Silvera's More Happy Than Not . Not exactly great, but not exactly terrible. It was just there.
June 29, 2020
Laurie Halse Anderson is able to craft such wonderfully unique character voices.
Ashley is witty and cynical in a way that perfectly fits her story and this was a delight to read. The plot is a lot more simplistic than most of Anderson's other works, but it was still a really fun read.
It's probably my least favourite Laurie Halse Anderson book I've read to date but considering I'm still giving it such a high ranking, it's probably about time you start reading her work.
Ashley is witty and cynical in a way that perfectly fits her story and this was a delight to read. The plot is a lot more simplistic than most of Anderson's other works, but it was still a really fun read.
It's probably my least favourite Laurie Halse Anderson book I've read to date but considering I'm still giving it such a high ranking, it's probably about time you start reading her work.
June 10, 2020
Super cute book! I read this super quickly and I would recommend it for 7th-9th graders!
February 4, 2024
Literally the easiest writing to read ever. Also it is just a story with no point to it but I loved it so much ?
February 10, 2015
I sort of like Laurie Halse Anderson's writing, but I think that Prom is a disaster.
For a quick summary, Ashley is a "normal kid" who doesn't want to go to prom and is barely passing her classes. She just wants to get out of school and do nail-painting for a living, or something. However, when a teacher embezzles the prom money and is discovered just days before it is supposed to happen, Ashley's best friend ropes her into putting together a last-minute prom.
First of all, I get that the main character is a "normal girl." We hear that from the narrator's lips A LOT. Apparently, though, "normal" means that you have to date an idiot for years on end, spend a lot of time thinking about birth control and sex (!), avoid family life, ditch classes and get tons of detentions, and barely pass classes at all. What in the WORLD is Anderson trying to say here?! If she is trying to be relevant, I think that she might be succeeding; however, I just think that this type of "relevance" is annoying. I, for one, would rather have a good role model with just a few flaws than Ashley.
Here's another thing. Ashley badmouths her family almost constantly. Seriously? I'm starting to think that Anderson doesn't have the faintest idea of how to write about a decent family. In this one, the parents are actually trying to be supportive, but Ashley pretty much hates them anyway. Go figure. I'm going somewhere else for a book with good family values.
Okay, I'm almost done ranting, but I'm going to talk about one more thing. The prom itself. It's nice that Ashley learns some responsibility and how to live in real life, but she spends so much time in the novel griping about how she doesn't want to go to the prom that I was just disgusted when she decided to go at the last minute--never mind the fact that she wasn't allowed to go because she had so many detentions. Okay...so the moral I am drawing from this is that it's okay to ditch class and ignore school, but when something fun happens, getting involved in making it happen overrides everything bad you ever did. I was frustrated that the teacher who wanted her to be responsible was punished (apparently no one liked him, and I can see why, but why is everyone against the teacher that wants Ashley to be responsible for once?!)
There are a few other things I take issue with in this novel , but these are the main things. I have recently read Speak, which I actually think has some pretty good messages, but Prom pretty much steamrolls everything good that Anderson established in Speak. Anderson may not see that, but I think that she is ignoring the overarching problem that causes things like rape (again, this is in reference to Speak).
Of course, Prom could be a giant satire, but I don't really think it is. I don't think I'll be returning to this again.
For a quick summary, Ashley is a "normal kid" who doesn't want to go to prom and is barely passing her classes. She just wants to get out of school and do nail-painting for a living, or something. However, when a teacher embezzles the prom money and is discovered just days before it is supposed to happen, Ashley's best friend ropes her into putting together a last-minute prom.
First of all, I get that the main character is a "normal girl." We hear that from the narrator's lips A LOT. Apparently, though, "normal" means that you have to date an idiot for years on end, spend a lot of time thinking about birth control and sex (!), avoid family life, ditch classes and get tons of detentions, and barely pass classes at all. What in the WORLD is Anderson trying to say here?! If she is trying to be relevant, I think that she might be succeeding; however, I just think that this type of "relevance" is annoying. I, for one, would rather have a good role model with just a few flaws than Ashley.
Here's another thing. Ashley badmouths her family almost constantly. Seriously? I'm starting to think that Anderson doesn't have the faintest idea of how to write about a decent family. In this one, the parents are actually trying to be supportive, but Ashley pretty much hates them anyway. Go figure. I'm going somewhere else for a book with good family values.
Okay, I'm almost done ranting, but I'm going to talk about one more thing. The prom itself. It's nice that Ashley learns some responsibility and how to live in real life, but she spends so much time in the novel griping about how she doesn't want to go to the prom that I was just disgusted when she decided to go at the last minute--never mind the fact that she wasn't allowed to go because she had so many detentions. Okay...so the moral I am drawing from this is that it's okay to ditch class and ignore school, but when something fun happens, getting involved in making it happen overrides everything bad you ever did. I was frustrated that the teacher who wanted her to be responsible was punished (apparently no one liked him, and I can see why, but why is everyone against the teacher that wants Ashley to be responsible for once?!)
There are a few other things I take issue with in this novel , but these are the main things. I have recently read Speak, which I actually think has some pretty good messages, but Prom pretty much steamrolls everything good that Anderson established in Speak. Anderson may not see that, but I think that she is ignoring the overarching problem that causes things like rape (again, this is in reference to Speak).
Of course, Prom could be a giant satire, but I don't really think it is. I don't think I'll be returning to this again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 2, 2017
As with Anderson's Twisted, I started off hating Prom, then it got a little better by the end, but I was really dissatisfied with the book as a whole.
This is definitely an after-school special type of book. The teenagers in it are "normal" (or so they label themselves as), and a lot of them have problems at home, but we never really see anything come of it. They scoff at those above and below them, but because they are "normal," it's kind of assumed that the audience already knows what that is. The way things were written seemed just a bit off - like things are the way they are because they are, no questions asked, no explanations for the situations that people are in. If anything, I was put off by the narrator constantly referring to herself as "normal" - it made her seem anything but.
And I know you don't have to like or relate to the protagonist in order to enjoy a book, but I could not relate to the narrator at all. She's judgey, she doesn't think through any situation that she's in, and she puts down others around her. She fills the "not like other girls" trope, which goes along with some of the underlying sexism throughout the book (back with the judging, but also just in the way that people are described). She doesn't see value in anything that is presented to her, until the prom ~changes her life~ and she sees what her life could be.
All of the characters generally weren't developed well - this was most obvious with her friend's grandmother, who served as immigrant comic relief, but everyone - from her family, to her friends, to her boyfriend were kind of slapdash cutouts that were there in order to serve the plot. This book was just people doing things to get to an end, not really telling a story about people.
Also, I know this can't be helped, but this book dated itself really quickly - readers today will have to suspend disbelief that someone can't work a cell phone, or that flyers are the best method for getting the word out, or that a video would take a year to make. Between the archaic references, the cookie cutter characters, and the insufferable protagonist, I didn't completely loathe the story at the end, but I nowhere near enjoyed it.
This is definitely an after-school special type of book. The teenagers in it are "normal" (or so they label themselves as), and a lot of them have problems at home, but we never really see anything come of it. They scoff at those above and below them, but because they are "normal," it's kind of assumed that the audience already knows what that is. The way things were written seemed just a bit off - like things are the way they are because they are, no questions asked, no explanations for the situations that people are in. If anything, I was put off by the narrator constantly referring to herself as "normal" - it made her seem anything but.
And I know you don't have to like or relate to the protagonist in order to enjoy a book, but I could not relate to the narrator at all. She's judgey, she doesn't think through any situation that she's in, and she puts down others around her. She fills the "not like other girls" trope, which goes along with some of the underlying sexism throughout the book (back with the judging, but also just in the way that people are described). She doesn't see value in anything that is presented to her, until the prom ~changes her life~ and she sees what her life could be.
All of the characters generally weren't developed well - this was most obvious with her friend's grandmother, who served as immigrant comic relief, but everyone - from her family, to her friends, to her boyfriend were kind of slapdash cutouts that were there in order to serve the plot. This book was just people doing things to get to an end, not really telling a story about people.
Also, I know this can't be helped, but this book dated itself really quickly - readers today will have to suspend disbelief that someone can't work a cell phone, or that flyers are the best method for getting the word out, or that a video would take a year to make. Between the archaic references, the cookie cutter characters, and the insufferable protagonist, I didn't completely loathe the story at the end, but I nowhere near enjoyed it.
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