Laurie Halse Anderson continues to amaze me with each book of hers that I read. Prom is no exception. With Prom, Anderson gives a character that you can really relate to. Ashley is a “normal” girl. She doesn’t care too much about school, she has a large family, she has a crappy job and an even crappier boyfriend, and she really doesn’t care about the prom.

Her best friend, Natalia, however, is on the prom committee and is devastated when the math teacher steals all of the prom money. Then Ashley finds herself roped into helping her school put on the prom anyway with no budget and just about everything against them. Prom is truly a modern Cinderella story, as Ashley makes it to the ball despite everything and learns a lot about what she wants for her life.

Prom, like all of Anderson’s books, pulls you in with its unique voice and doesn’t let you go. I couldn’t put the book down. What I really enjoyed about this book was how real it felt. I felt like I was in Ashley’s school with her, and all I wanted was to help her find the right path for her life. Plus it made me laugh out loud that the slippers she wore to the ball/prom were, in fact, slippers.

Laurie Halse Anderson has quickly become one of my favorite authors and is such an influence on my own writing, and I just found out that she’s coming to Dayton on a book tour in a of couple weeks. I can’t believe I get to meet her!