The Real Prom Queens of Westfield High

December 16, 2013
Crompton’s (Blaze) fun premise is built around a reality show that aims to transform high school outcasts into pretty, poised, and potentially popular girls. If one of the three contestants can nab the ultimate prize—being named prom queen during a live telecast—she will win one million dollars. Shannon Depola agrees to participate, hoping to improve her reputation after an embarrassing incident made her the target of name-calling and harassment. After Prom Queen Camp, Shannon has a great new look, but while listening closely to her Social Advisement Coach may win her the crown, it could cost her the people she cares about. Shannon struts down a fairly predictable path that leads to some newfound insights (“I just really wanted to escape my life for a while”) and a live prom full of over-the-top mayhem. While readers won’t find many surprises, and the novel’s cultural critique is mild, its outrageous moments reveal how far the show’s producers will go to shape the reality they want. Ages 13–up. Agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary Agency.

January 1, 2014
Even the twists are standard in this outsider-gets-revenge tale. Shannon is an outcast thanks to the teasing of her school's queen bee, Grace. When a finger cot--a tool for her secret quilting hobby that looks like a miniature condom--falls out of her pocket during gym class, Shannon gets nicknamed the Elf Ucker. She withdraws into her own head and only talks to her best friend, Marnie. So when she gets the chance to participate in a reality TV show called From Wannabes to Prom Queens, she jumps at the chance to improve her social standing--even if it means not telling Marnie about the show and losing a chance at romance with goofy science nerd Rick. Of course, Shannon finds out popularity isn't all it's cracked up to be. Predictably, the show's production team manufactures drama with such maneuvers as having Grace and her cronies compete for the prom-queen crown, too. Unsurprisingly, everyone learns a valuable lesson, although not without the girls having a knock-down, drag-out fight first. Crompton's second novel is competent. Characters are serviceable, and the plot moves along well enough. In the end, it's like most reality TV: not high art and not all that memorable. (Fiction. 14 & up)

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March 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-Shannon Depola knows she is at the bottom of her high school's social hierarchy-a fact that is confirmed with a class survey that places her as one of the top three girls voted least likely to be prom queen. So starts the reality-show train wreck that is The Prom Queen Wannabees. Shannon and two other outcasts are selected to star in a hidden-camera reality show sponsored by a popular fashion and cosmetics company that promises social royalty and "One! Million! Dollars!" to the girl who climbs the social ladder to become Westfield High's prom queen. Shannon and her costars quickly learn that even that hefty prize is not worth selling the ugliness promoted by the beauty business and losing best friends and a chance at true love. Is it too late for the made-over Shannon to set aside everything she learned at Prom Queen Camp and recover her true identity and friendships? Like any successful reality show, The Real Prom Queens of Westfield High is a guilty pleasure. Such is Crompton's take on high school, commercialism, and America's obsession with reality television. The novel's themes are reminiscent of Libba Bray's Beauty Queens (Scholastic, 2011), and though the plot seems a little forced at times, and an all-out brawl at the end is over-the-top, the book makes for an entertaining read. Strong language makes this title appropriate for older teens. Although not an essential purchase, the book will circulate and be popular with chick-lit fans.-Betsy Davison, Cortland Free Library, NY

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