Promposal

November 15, 2014
High schoolers try to outdo one another in elaborate, romantic ways to pitch invitations to the prom.Camilla swoons over Benjamin, who probably doesn't know she's alive. Meanwhile, her bestie, Joshua, has been secretly crushing on his other bestie, Ethan, since middle school, when they both realized they were gay. Camilla finds herself in trouble when Zach gets his TV-reporter mom to film his "promposal" to Camilla in the school hallway. Camilla can't figure out how to say "no" on camera, so she thinks she's stuck with him. Meanwhile, unaware of Joshua's feelings, Ethan asks Joshua to help him concoct an elaborate invitation to Noah, the hot new guy in school. Despite the frothy subject matter, Helms keeps the narrative nicely straightforward and sometimes humorous as she puts her characters into increasingly awkward situations. She delves into common teen anxieties over social and romantic situations, even showing both sides of a girl who becomes a pariah when she turns down a promposal too harshly. The book alternates narration from both Camilla's and Joshua's points of view, treating the gay and straight romances equally. It all adds a little bit of depth to the standard who's-going-to-date-whom plot. Chick lit to the max. (Fiction. 12-18)

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March 1, 2015

Gr 7 Up-Camilla's Ohio high school has a tradition in which boys ask girls to the annual prom via elaborate scenarios. She is mortified when Zach approaches her wearing a tux and accompanied by a film crew documenting his "promposal." Camilla agrees, even though she's not especially fond of Zach and really wishes that Zach's handsome cousin Benjamin had asked her first. To complicate matters further, Camilla is assigned to work with Benjamin on a psychology project, and sparks fly, inflaming their attraction for each other. But Benjamin takes the high road and will not risk hurting his cousin. Meanwhile, Camilla's gay best friend, Joshua, would love to ask Ethan to the prom, but Ethan asks Joshua for help in planning an epic promposal to another young man. Helms has a charming winner on her hands with her latest novel about the Sturm und Drang of teenage love. Well-developed, articulate, and believable characters populate the pages, and relationships with friends and family seem authentic. VERDICT This enjoyable story won't sit on the shelves for long, especially during prom season.-Susan Riley, Mamaroneck Public Library, NY

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2015
Grades 7-10 Mortifying. Humiliating. For the most part, promposals are exactly that. Camilla is ambushed at school by a guy she hardly knows (with the student body as witness and a TV crew to film it) and asked to go to their senior prom. Not wanting to be a jerk, she accepts despite wishing the dreamy Benjamin would ask her. Meanwhile, her best friend Joshua, who is deeply, madly, silently in love with their other friend Ethan, encounters his own dilemma. Ethan asks Joshua to help him plan his own promposal to someone else. This gushy-mushy, over-the-top emotional book drips with teen angst and heart palpitations usually reserved for younger characters, but that's exactly what may tug at some heartstrings. Camilla and Joshua, in alternating chapters, constantly narrate frantic crushes, but the fun is in the massive entanglements of each of the primary and secondary relationships in Camilla's, Joshua's, and Ethan's worlds and how their senior prom eventually resolves.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2015
In an uncomfortable "promposal," Camilla is asked publicly to prom by a guy she doesn't like, while the guy she actually likes looks on. Joshua is in love with his best friend, Ethan, but Ethan wants Joshua's help asking another guy to prom. Unsurprisingly, on prom night all is well. Unrealistic high school drama and dialogue characterize this prom-obsessed romance.

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)