Book Review: Prada and Prejudice

Mandy Hubbard's Prada and Prejudice was our July's TLC Book. Definitely a book for middle school girls and the occasional naive 9th or 10th grader, it was still an enjoyable read for an adult. Callie is your typical nerdy 15-year-old with a quick wit and potential to be popular. She ends up trying to seek acceptance of her cool peers by getting permission to travel to London on a school trip where she goes off and buys authentic Prada shoes. She can't actually walk in the heels so she almost immediately falls, hits her head, blacks out, and wakes up in a forest. Not knowing where she is or how she got there, she walks until she finds the castle of a duke. Quickly, Callie pretends to be Rebecca, a guest the duke's family was expecting from America, and realizes that she is in 1815 rather than the 21st century. From here, Callie questions the lifestyle and status of women during that time while going on a discovery of self-worth and ultimately falling for the duke, Alex. 

Admittedly, I am tired of the "Callie" character. We are seeing her in different forms all over the place - Bella from Twilight and Mia from The Princess Diaries come to mind first. But even other genres have her too - Taylor Swift's "You Belong with Me" (the song and video) embody this character. One Direction's "You don't know you're beautiful" is a song which millions of young girls feel could be sung to them. Sure, she is relatable at some level - girls feeling different, being clumsy and uncool - and she is something they strive to be - unknowingly beautiful and intelligent which is recognized by a handsome boy of higher-status. But can't we be a little more creative? It was fine at first, but now it is annoying and I am over it.

Beyond that, this an innocent romance story with time travel involved. It is interesting to see the change in etiquette from those day to now as well as the little touches of 1800's life. I did get swept away in the story of the past and read through it rather quickly. The imagery Hubbard provides of the fashions, people, landscape, and castle made it easy to imagine the setting and action. From reading, I suppose we could learn, or be reminded of, the fact that assumptions are not always right as Callie kept distance from Alex because of what she thought she knew about him. (This could be the title connection to Pride and Prejudice.) In the end, it only stopped her from what could have been a great relationship which lasted longer than a few days. We could also learn that we don't need what everyone else has to be accepted by others. One must find contentment within himself or herself and embrace qwirks instead of trying to hide them. So, if you can stand another clumsy teenage girl and want an easy, light-hearted summer read, then Prada and Prejudice is a good one to choose.