The Anti-Prom

by Abby McDonald

Overview

Three unlikely allies team up for a night of rebellion, romance, and revenge in a high-stakes dramedy from acclaimed young author Abby McDonald.
(Age 14 and up)

They’ve spent years at the same high school without speaking a word to one another, but that’s all about to change. Popular Bliss was having the perfect prom until she found her BFF and boyfriend making out in the back of a limo. Bad girl Jolene wouldn’t be caught dead at the prom, yet here she is, trussed up in pink ruffles, risking her reputation for some guy - some guy who is forty minutes late. And shy, studious, über-planner Meg never counted on her date’s standing her up and leaving her idling in the parking lot outside the prom. Get ready for The Anti-Prom, Abby McDonald’s hilarious, heart-tugging tale about three girls and one unforgettable prom night.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763654603
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	04/12/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Lexile:	HL720L (what's this?)
File size:	869 KB
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Abby McDonald is the author of two other novels for young adults—Sophomore Switch and Boys, Bears, and a Serious Pair of Hiking Boots—as well as two adult novels. She divides her time between Montreal and her hometown in Sussex, England.

Editorial Reviews

In McDonald's (Boys, Bears, and a Serious Pair of Hiking Boots) third novel for teens, three dissimilar upperclassgirls—popular Bliss, bad girl Jolene, and shy romantic Meg—find that they have something in common on prom night: they have each been wronged. Bliss catches her best friend making out with her boyfriend, and both Jolene and Meg get stood up. Bliss wonders if all her social climbing has been worth it ("I worked so hard to get everything perfect, the way high school is supposed to be. And now I'm left with this ache in my chest, knowing that it was all a lie"); Jolene resents her father's desertion of the family; and Meg is sick of being invisible. Their quest for revenge takes them everywhere, from Dairy Queen to the local college and Jolene's father's office. Alternating between the three girls' perspectives, the novel is lightly wicked fun in formal wear, filled with bickering, breaking and entering, and quick getaways. The girls basically play to type, but grow enough to make their journey an amusing diversion. Ages 14–up. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

As in the excellent Sophomore Switch (2009), McDonald instills more intelligence than you'd expect from such a plot while not skimping on the simple pleasures, either
—Booklist

Plenty of snarky language and good one-liners will grab readers…Will certainly attract readers looking for light chick lit.
—VOYA

Woven into the revenge antics is a sensitive and compelling exploration of the vicissitudes of high-school relationships.
—Bulletin of the Center of Children’s Books

Expect this book to fly off your shelves.
—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

Gr 8–11—Bliss, Jolene, and Meg all have high expectations for prom night. They have been planning all year, and Bliss knows that it will be as perfect as her boyfriend, Cameron, until she finds him making out with her best friend in the back of the limo. Jolene, "the baddest girl in school," made a deal with her ex-best friend, Dante, to show up at prom as a joke. Only Dante doesn't show, and Jolene is feeling stupid in the frilly pink dress. Meg's mom made some phone calls and got her daughter a date with the son of a friend. He just called and said he couldn't make it. Now Meg is trying to pluck up the courage to walk through the doors alone. These three very different girls who barely know one another are about to cross paths at just the right moment. Two want revenge. One just wants to belong. But all are going to get far more than they expect. This high school drama offers a different spin on that special night in a teen's life. The plot moves along quickly, told in alternating chapters by each of the protagonists. Bliss, Jolene, and Meg are well developed and their actions are believable. And, most importantly, there's a happy ending. Expect this book to fly off your shelves.—Heather Miller Cover, Homewood Public Library, AL

School Library Journal

Who can resist a story of prom night craziness? McDonald’s catchy story of three very different girls who spend prom night catapulting into adventures makes for a lively audiobook. Julia Whelan’s voices for Meg, Jolene, and Bliss are subtly differentiated. Occasionally, dialogue is confusing, but the story’s nonstop silliness smoothes over these moments. Bliss’s youthful, confident voice is convincing as she persuades her new best friends to chat up cute strangers at the library and steal pajamas to sneak into a college party. Her dramatic attitude carries the story, as does Jolene’s dry wit. Add in prim and proper Meg, and you have an amusing story of girl power—perfect for any madcap road trip. C.A. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

AUGUST 2011 - AudioFile

Bliss, Jolene and Meg are each, for their own reasons, having an awful time at the prom. When boredom, shame and a thirst for revenge throw them into each other's paths, they take off together on an all-night odyssey to change their lives. The characters lack chemistry, relying on the tired trope of three mismatched high-school archetypes—the shallow popular girl who lacks compassion, the rebel outcast who needs to relax and trust people and the nerd who needs to loosen up and have fun—drawn together by circumstance so they can learn valuable lessons from each others' wisecracking wisdom. Jolene has the most intriguing potential, but the rotating first-person narrative doles out the details slowly and prevents her story from being fully realized. The obstacles they encounter (hostile coeds, suspicious parents, high-tech security systems) are handily overcome, giving the whole affair a superficial sheen. Readers who foundSophomore Switch(2009) both fun and substantive will be disappointed with this effort, the literary equivalent of cotton candy: sweet and easy, but dissolves on contact.(Fiction. 14 & up)

Kirkus Reviews