Thursday, April 14, 2016

L: Lael Littke & PROM DRESS

"I usually know how a novel will begin and end, but in between I more or less fly by the seat of my pants. I hate outlining."- Lael Littke

Ready for another creepy prom story? In Lael Littke's PROM DRESS (Scholastic Point, YA), an old lady shares that she has a scar on her face from wearing a bad luck prom dress. Nonetheless, her prom dress is stolen or "borrowed"  from her attic by a girl, a talented dancer. The dancer wears the dress to her prom and gets into an accident that severely injures her legs. From hereon, every time a girl sees that prom dress, they end up stealing it and then something bad happens to them. At the end of the story, the old lady who owned the dress confessed that many years ago, she started making the dress for her prom. But the guy she was crushing on asked her twin sister, considered prettier, to prom instead. She cursed the dress while she finished making the dress for her sister. When her sister returned from prom, she threw acid at her sister's face so her sister would be less attractive than she was. Here, readers learn she is not the sister who got the scar from wearing the bad luck prom dress. That sister died in a fire years ago and the creepy sister returned to their old home pretending to be the other sister...At the end of the story, we see that the dress ends up in a store and a girl who wants it badly shoplifts it...

For some high school girls, prom is the quintessential event that acknowledges their elevation from girl to woman. But the event can come with a lot of planning. Who will my date be? What if the guy I want to go with asks someone else? Where will we have dinner? Should we book a limo? What will I wear? What if someone wears the same dress I do and wears it better? How will I afford all this? This novel takes some of these questions and blows it up into something bigger and darker.

Have you read PROM DRESS? Did you attend your prom? If so, what memories do you have?

17 comments:

Jeffrey Scott said...

I never attended a prom. Wasn't any draw for me, and besides I wasn't dating at the time. So for me it was just an unneeded expense. I couldn't have imagined anyone wanting to go to the prom with me any way. Nerds weren't very cool back in the 80s.

Pat Hatt said...

I went, but meh was the whole thing. Over hyped. Agreed too, not a fan of outlining at my sea.

Stephanie Faris said...

I haven't read that one...I did see a film once about a suit that brought good luck to everyone who wore it.

Tasha Duncan-Drake said...

I have not heard of this story - sounds like that dress brings out the bad in people. We did not have prom in the UK then - they do now, but not when I was at school :). We had a sixth form disco, which was just about having a laugh :)
Tasha
Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)

M.J. Fifield said...

I don't think I read this one.

I did attend my senior prom. What I remember: My date shaved his head two days before the big event. We ate at Olive Garden before the prom, where my sister's date ordered Cheesy Noodles, and we all slow-danced to "What's Up" by 4 Non Blondes. Oh, and my dress was not cursed.

tawnya said...

Interesting book! I want to go read it! Prom wasn't that great for me. I think I would have been just fine not going. I think at the time I went to prom there was so much pressure to find a date, and the perfect dress. It just isn't really worth it, now looking back on it. But isn't that everything really? We look back on the things that we thought were super important, and the seem like a tiny speck in the grand theme of things!

Liz A. said...

Funnily enough, just yesterday a girl was telling me all about her prom dress. Her table mates told her she overpaid, but she was happy she was getting it tailored. She even showed me a picture. (It's prom season...)

Lynn Proctor said...

I never attended prom- when I was in hs- it wasnt cool haha

Lynn Proctor said...

I never attended prom- when I was in hs- it wasnt cool haha

Sunday Visitor said...

I missed my college Prom as I was sick. Great post!!

The Silver Fox said...

"I usually know how a novel will begin and end, but in between I more or less fly by the seat of my pants. I hate outlining." Wow, I could have written that! Heh.

Claire Annette said...

What a story! Why hasn't this been made into a movie? Why do these girls want this bad luck dress enough to steal it?
I went to lots of proms - I went to an all girl high school and went to my own proms as well as those at the boys' school. I just remember there was always drama and I laugh when I look back at photos of my prom dresses.

Doree Weller said...

I don't remember reading this book, but I remember the cover, so I must have owned it. It sounds like a fun story though, and I agree with the last commenter... why hasn't it been made into a movie?
@DoreeWeller from
Doree Weller’s Blog

Yvonne Ventresca said...

This sounds creepy!

Now girls post prom dress pics in a facebook group so no one buys the same one.

Yvonne V

Jo said...

When I was at school in the UK, we didn't have proms. So never went to one or wore a prom dress. Never read the book, sounds quite scare.

JO ON FOOD, LIFE AND A SCENT OF CHOCOLATE

Elizabeth said...

I have not heard of this book. At my high school, juniors and seniors could go to prom, I went both years with groups (no date). I had more fun at the bowling alley after the prom my first year and at dinner beforehand the second year. I should have just skipped prom and hung out with my friends :)

Random Musings said...

I vaguely remember reading this one, or something very similar.
Debbie

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