Matthew Sklar

I remember seeing Penguin advertise this book before it was released, marketing it as something that I immediately thought ‘Oh, I’m going to enjoy reading this.’ When I found it at a Waterstones I immediately bought it, recognizing the cover and the title from the Facebook posts I had seen promoting it.
Was I expecting more from it? Possibly. I wasn’t really sure what I was expecting, really. I just knew it was a story about a prom, and two girls who wanted to go to prom together and ended up causing a riot. It’s very similar to another book I’ve reviewed, Tessa Masterson Will go to Prom. But this story definitely has much better characters and much more sympathetic stories going with it.
Emma came out on YouTube and was disowned by her very Catholic parents, and now she lives with her grandmother. Alyssa, Emma’s girlfriend, is class president and one of the most popular girls in school, who is very much still in the closet. However, these two girls are deeply in love. They’re so in love that they’re considering going to prom together, even though Alyssa has to get a male date to it to appease her mother and so that her friends don’t suspect. But Emma would just be happy to spend some time with her.
And then Alyssa’s mother, a member of the PTA and very unaware of her daughter’s obviously lesbianism, finds out that the only out lesbian in the school wants to take another girl to prom and creates an uproar about it. They refuse to let same-sex couples attend prom, they say it stands against everything the PTA is working for and that it makes other people uncomfortable. And Emma gets so angry, she posts a video to YouTube about it.
Meanwhile, in New York, a failed stage production about Eleanor Roosevelt has left the actors who penned and acted in it out of public favour. Dee Dee and Barry, the brains behind it, are trying to find a way to get back into everyone’s good graces and portray themselves as the bleeding hearts that they want the world to see them as. When they hear about Emma’s plight all the way in Indiana, they gather a troupe of Broadway actors and make for Indiana, determined to protest Emma’s right to go to prom and dance with her girlfriend, and turn the whole thing into a media circus.
This book is based off a stage musical called The Prom, and from what I’ve gathered from it, it seems that the musical is more involved with Dee Dee and Barry, who are very unsympathetic and self-absorbed characters in the book, let alone the musical. But what I loved about the book is that it’s about Emma and Alyssa and their story. If you’ve seen the musical, this book makes a fantastic companion to it. If you haven’t (like me) and just wanted to read a cute book, this book is perfect for that too. It’s an adorable story of first love and triumph in the face or prejudice, while also being a pretty decent commentary on gratuitous celebrity involvement in social issues.
All in all, though, I give this book a 3/5. It’s adorable and very feel good, but it is also highly unrealistic. But if you want something short and sweet to read to remind you of what it felt like to fall in love the first time and make you think a little bit more about what it would be like to be prejudiced against for something you can’t control, then this book is great for that.
… (mer)

Admittedly I have never seen the musical or listened to the soundtrack so I went into this blind. I was NOT disappointed! Emma is the only out teenager at her high school. It's tough being the only openly gay kid in a small Indiana town. She isn't exactly the most accepted kid, even her parents kicked her out. Her girlfriend, the super popular class president, Alyssa, is still in the closet, as her mother is the head of the PTA. All they want to do is go to prom together and dance, but that's about to be a lot harder now that Alyssa's mother has started meddling. As a conservative Christian she is aghast when she finds out Emma plans on bringing a female date (can you imagine how much more upset she would be if she knew that date was her own daughter!), she swiftly changes the rules so that only boy/girl dates are allowed. Once the news picks up on it, two Broadway stars lend themselves to Emma's cause. They want to fight for justice (and a little free publicity too). Soon the whole situation has spun out of control. All Emma and Alyssa wanted to do was dance together. Wonderfully written, this is a must read for teenagers. It shows just how harmful discrimination is and begs readers to be more open minded and empathetic. I definitely want to see the musical now!… (mer)

Recently, I was so fortunate to see this on tour. It is hard to keep my memories of the show from intertwining with this recording, but I'll try.

I enjoyed this recording. Somehow they captured the joy and hope the musical has. My favorites are World's Greatest Dad, Sparklejollytwinklejingley, I'll Believe In You, A Christmas Song (the reprise is terrific), Never Fall In Love (With An Elf) (I giggled throughout the song), and There Is A Santa Claus (I still tear up!).

To get the full impact of all of the songs, you'll need to be familiar with the musical. I think the ones I listed above stand on their own merits. I'll be playing this for years to come.… (mer)