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A review by ida_ree
Deacon Locke Went to Prom by Brian Katcher
5.0
Full disclosure: I was one of the beta readers for early drafts of this book. I enjoyed it enough to read the final version once it was released.
Deacon is a sweet, if sometimes clueless, high school senior. He lived an unsettled life (to put it mildly) with a father who is out of the picture by the time the story begins. Only in the last couple of years has Deacon found any kind of stability, living with his grandmother, Jean, in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
As senior prom approaches, Deacon decides he'd like to grasp this one last chance to do a normal teen activity, but he procrastinates too long to get a date. The answer is obvious -- Jean missed her own prom due to his grandfather's military service in Vietnam. Yes, he takes his grandma to prom. And she's a hit. Video clips of the two of them dancing go viral. Fame and complications ensue.
One complication is Deacon's growing awareness that Jean is in the early stages of dementia, just as he is about to head off and leave her.
Another is Deacon's new girlfriend, Soraya, the dance instructor at the Y, where Deacon and Jean took lessons. Soraya attends the local Islamic school. Internet fame for Deacon unfortunately leads to nasty bigotry toward Soraya. I love how she handles herself and the lessons Deacon learns about the difference between being supportive and being a savior. In fact, props for many strong female characters in this book.
Though some of the issues are heavy, there's lots of humor.
I especially enjoyed the gutter repair scene.
Deacon is a sweet, if sometimes clueless, high school senior. He lived an unsettled life (to put it mildly) with a father who is out of the picture by the time the story begins. Only in the last couple of years has Deacon found any kind of stability, living with his grandmother, Jean, in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
As senior prom approaches, Deacon decides he'd like to grasp this one last chance to do a normal teen activity, but he procrastinates too long to get a date. The answer is obvious -- Jean missed her own prom due to his grandfather's military service in Vietnam. Yes, he takes his grandma to prom. And she's a hit. Video clips of the two of them dancing go viral. Fame and complications ensue.
One complication is Deacon's growing awareness that Jean is in the early stages of dementia, just as he is about to head off and leave her.
Another is Deacon's new girlfriend, Soraya, the dance instructor at the Y, where Deacon and Jean took lessons. Soraya attends the local Islamic school. Internet fame for Deacon unfortunately leads to nasty bigotry toward Soraya. I love how she handles herself and the lessons Deacon learns about the difference between being supportive and being a savior. In fact, props for many strong female characters in this book.
Though some of the issues are heavy, there's lots of humor.
I especially enjoyed the gutter repair scene.