Tessa Masterson Will Go to Prom by Emily Franklin and Brendan Halpin

Image from Barnes & Noble

Franklin, Emily and Brendan Halpin. Tessa Masterson Will Go to Prom. New York: Walker Publishing Company, 2012. Print. ISBN-13: 9780802723451. Hardcover. Cost: $16.99

Awards:

-Named to the 2013 ALA Rainbow List

Annotation:
Best friends are supposed to know everything about each other. Especially who they like and who they will be going to prom with...aren't they?

Booktalk:
Living in a small town can feel kind of cramped, right? The school being so small that everyone has known everyone else and their families since first grade, and you get to keep the same best friend all the way through high school. When there is gossip going around, the entire community knows about it within the day. All of these things play a part in the test put to the best friendship between Lucas Fogelman and Tessa Masterson.

Despite spending most of their lives with one another, Tessa and Luke learn during their senior year that they still had a lot to learn about each other. Asking your best friend to go to prom with you in a spectacularly public display, only to have her come out as a lesbian in response, is a disaster for both sides, with social effects neither of them expected. With both Luke and Tessa feeling betrayed in the aftermath, the community of Brookfield decides Tessa is banned from the senior prom. Luke needs to decide; does he still care about the person he thought he knew? Can he support her if he does? Find out whether or not, against prejudiced school boards and social pressure, Tessa Masterson Will Go to Prom.