A Written Rhapsody: Review: Tessa Masterson Will Go To Prom by Brendan Halpin and Emily Franklin

"Lucas and Tessa’s friendship is the stuff of legend in their small Midwestern town. So it’s no surprise when Lucas finally realizes his feelings for Tessa are more than friendship and he asks her to prom. What no one expected, especially Lucas, was for Tessa to come out as a lesbian instead of accepting his heartfelt invitation.

Humiliated and confused, Lucas also feels betrayed that his best friend kept such an important secret from him. What’s worse is Tessa’s decision to wear a tastefully tailored tuxedo to escort her female crush, sparking a firestorm of controversy. Lucas must decide if he should stand on the sidelines or if he should stand by his friend to make sure that Tessa Masterson will go to prom.

Emily Franklin and Brendan Halpin tackle both sides of a ripped-from-the headlines story to show that true friendship will triumph after all."

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Sure, the subject matter is somewhat "controversial",but that isn't why I enjoyed it.

I liked how both authors took an event that's been happening in present times and first gave us an inside look into the subject matter and made it humorous to read. I can't say how on point the story was as I haven't been through anything similar, but I felt this story was very real. This is mostly due to the characterization.

I loved Tessa's character because she wasn't a girl who really had any issues about who she was. She knew who she was and was comfortable with that fact. What she was really dealing with was what was happening around her when she decided to take a stand about who she truly was. Lucas, on the other hand, showed the other side of not really being accepting of someone. Though I understood his hesitation, seeing a friend not accept a person was pretty heart-breaking!

What I found to be an important aspect of this story was the fact that the authors respected different views. There was never a right and wrong side when it came to religious objections. Which, when it comes to these type of stories, is a pretty large detail when dealing with this type of subject matter. This isn't to say that this book wasn't political, but it was insightful while being respectful.

The pacing was a little slow for me, but the enjoyable characters and light humor in the story still made this a really easy read. I'd recommend it because the topics of friendship, community and acceptance are real and bring a humorous insight to the subject of equality in our current school system. Read it, learn, enjoy.