Ask Again Later by Liz Czukas (review)
Buy Issue for $25 at JHUP- Ask Again Later by Liz Czukas
Prom night is fast approaching, and you’re set to go with your best friends, the No Drama Prom-a Crew. Then your French class partner asks you to be his date, because even though he’s gay he wants to take part in this quintessential high school experience. You want to help, but your brother reveals he has volunteered you to go with his recently dumped buddy, even though you don’t run with his party crowd. You don’t know what to do, so decide to flip a coin. Heads? You’ll go with beefy, boozy Troy. Tails? It’s off to prom with kind, closeted Ryan. So it goes for high school junior Heart LaCoeur, whose subsequent prom night narrative alternates between the two possible results of the coin toss. Both scenarios involve typical prom trappings (think dress disasters and house parties) as well as the bafflingly temperamental behavior of her No Drama friend Schroeder. When the two potential trajectories of the evening merge, Heart learns the reasons behind his behavior—and begins to question her strict “no dating” rule. Prom-curious readers will enjoy taking both potential paths alongside Heart, whose down-to-earth qualities trump her inability [End Page 353] to see the proverbial forest. Unfortunately, the relationships are pretty shallowly treated, especially the familial ones: the absent-mother subplot is flimsy and forced, and the superficial treatment of Heart’s strained relationship with her brother fails to satisfy. Nonetheless, the story’s accessible humor and adolescently flippant, if self-conscious, tone will keep teens turning the page. The ultimate message—what will be, will be—makes a fitting object lesson for those readers stressing about their love lives, whether or not it involves a prom date.
