This Dance Is Doomed

Gr 4-6–In this sequel to The Principal’s Underwear Is Missing, sixth-grader Becca Birnbaum once again gets unexpectedly caught up in the drama of the most popular girl in school when wealthy, glamorous Selfie St. Clair tells her a secret: Although she’s been pretending to have an impressive date for the upcoming middle-school prom, no one has asked her yet. In exchange for helping her find a date, Selfie promises Becca a chance to dance with Dinesh O’Reilly, Becca’s secret crush. Now Becca is torn between helping Selfie and attending the prom, or joining her best friends Rosa and Prezbo in planning their anti-prom party. Peopled with deliciously over-the-top characters, especially Selfie St. Clair—whose bedroom features a two-story closet with a TV and a mini-fridge—this lighthearted novel holds some surprising insights into middle school dynamics. For example, Becca pretends to interview a group of popular eighth-grade boys about prom, and learns that they are all intimidated by Selfie, worried about the expectations of prom, and totally unsure what to do. Her friends’ meeting to plan the anti-prom party draws a huge number of kids who feel excluded by the popular crowd, even though they can’t seem to agree on anything. The cartoon illustrations on almost every page add to the book’s quirky humor.