Prom Kings and Drama Queens

Dorian Cirrone

Mar 2009 · Sold by Harper Collins

About this ebook

That summer, Hurricane Emily was in the news. The headlines shouted things like: "Emily Rocks South Florida." I wanted to be like that Emily in the headlines. I wanted to take the world by storm.

Not that I wanted to knock over mango trees or whip power lines across the sky like spaghetti. But I wanted to rock in my own way.

Emily Bennet has some impossible projects on her "To Do" list, like landing her longtime crush, Brian Harrington, and winning the job of editor in chief of the school newspaper over her arch nemesis, Daniel Cummings. And, on top of that, she's determined to do something special. Something important. Something good.

Suddenly, Emily's checking things off her list left and right. She's kissing Brian on a semiregular basis and she's raising money for a good cause by planning an Alternative Prom (but she would secretly rather go to the real one). The only item that remains is knocking Daniel Cummings off his pedestal. But when did he start to look, well, cute?

Emily's finding it harder and harder to stick to her list. And she still needs to conquer the most important item of all. Can she find her inner prom queen and figure out how to rock?

Ratings and reviews

Emily Bennet has all kinds of goals for her junior year of high school. She wants to beat out obnoxious Daniel Cummings for editor-in-chief of the school newspaper. She wants Brian Harrington, the gorgeous boy next door (literally), to notice her. She wants revenge on the Mean Girls who ditched her in eighth grade. And, after reading a newspaper headline about a hurricane that shares her name, she wants “Emily Rocks South Florida” to describe her own life. Of course, nothing is that simple, and on the way to achieving her goals, she ends up in handcuffs while chasing down a headline. She facilitates a secret romance between a boat captain and a dancing grandmother. She starts to realize that there's more to Daniel, the rival she's been so intent on beating, than she knew. And she ends up becoming passionate about a good deed she never intended to do. Despite some overly cutesy elements (her snobby ex-friends are twins named Brandy and Randy), this is a light, fun read that keeps getting better as it continues. Ms. Cirrone keeps the book from getting weighted down with high school stereotypes and adds some interest with a subplot about Brian's grandmother and the captain of the junior class cruise. In the end, Emily figures out how to rock not by beating someone at something or by getting revenge, but by doing something good and loving it. In a world driven by competition, that's a message we could all use.

About the author

Dorian Cirrone is the author of dancing in red shoes will kill you. She lives in south Florida with her husband and her two children.