SuitabookProm
Laurie Halse Anderson
- Reading
- Read it as a discussion-led coming-of-age story. Pause around the relationship and future-planning choices, and leave space to talk about consent, substance references and consequences without assuming every issue is resolved.
- Themes
- Growing ambitions: Ashley begins with almost no college plans and a boyfriend planning a post-school life with her; she later develops broader dreams and expects more of herself. The narrative appears to value self-belief and wider ambitions over accepting a constricted future.
- Relationships and loyalty: Ashley supports Nat’s prom work after Nat breaks her leg while also managing an unreliable boyfriend, family demands, work and school. Friendship and responsibility are treated as meaningful, while the boyfriend relationship is presented as inadequate for Ashley’s future.
- School authority and consequences: The prom is threatened when a maths teacher is arrested for stealing its funds, and Ashley is later arrested after defying the vice principal. The book leaves its stance open to more than one reading.
- Worth knowing
- Some families may wish to prepare for references to drug use, sex and condoms, an arrest, and conflict with school authority. These appear alongside everyday school, family and relationship pressures.