Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress - Tina Ferraro

That is just a classic title isn't it? and how about the name Nicolette for the main character? Love it! This is the same author who wrote How to Hook a Hottie which I reviewed a while back. Nice easy to read little chick-lit romance that I read last night. This morning I was maybe re-thinking staying up until 11:00 to finish it, though...

Poor Nicolette. Ditched just before the prom by a boy she's been drooling over for months but who is, predictably, a slimeball. One question I have is, do we girls really choose so many lowlifes as our heart's desire (from afar, generally) as portrayed in books, or does it just make for better stories? I hope it's the latter, because if not, we need to be rethinking some of our choices. Anyway, also somewhat predictably, there's also another cute boy in the picture, one she's pretty much been oblivious to as a boy, really, because it's her best friend's brother.

There's lots of teenage drama and angst in this book, including BFF troubles, lying, divorced parents, a little half sister, and a photo of Nicolette holding a beer can (not hers, really). There's also some funny stuff, especially the list of the top ten uses for said unworn dress (yes, there is an actual wearing - yippee - but it's not one of the top ten list uses).

Finally, I liked how the author at the end of the story very smoothly brought in the idea of taking a used dress to a place where girls without too much money can buy gently used special occasion dresses for a fraction of the price. It's a great idea, because not too many people wear a dress like that more than once, but a lot of people could use a little help when it comes to paying for one. I think it's really cool how a lot of authors are bringing in social justice issues to their writing and helping to make more kids aware of things they can do to help out in their communities and the world at large. The Readergrlz do a great job of rounding a lot of these ideas up, so if you've got a moment, you might check out their blog or their website. I've got a posting about Justina Chen Headley's North of Beautiful contest here as well.

This book is available at the Multnomah County Library.