TOP TEN USES FOR AN
UNWORN PROM DRESS
By: Tina Ferraro
Indya Szydlowski
A IS FOR ALISON
 Alison McCreary is one of the main characters in the book. Alison has been
Nicolette’s best friend for many years. Alison and Nicolette trust each other and tell
each other their deepest, darkest secrets. Alison becomes angry at Nicolette
throughout the book for spending time with her older brother Jared. In the end Alison
decides that their friendship is worth keeping.
B IS FOR BOYFRIEND
 Nicolette
has been having trouble finding a proper boyfriend. In the end of the
book she realizes that she likes Jared. Soon after, Nicolette and Jared start dating.
She is ecstatic that she finally found a great guy.
C IS FOR COACH LUTHER
 Coach Luther is in charge of the girls volley ball team at the high school. Coach
Luther expects perfection from her team. She teaches the girls to work hard and set
goals for themselves.
D IS FOR DANCE
 The homecoming dance is the big event that all of the teens are talking about. All
of the girls are hoping that they are asked by the boys that they like. Nicolette has a
beautiful unworn dress that she is dying to wear to the dance. She is hoping that she
can finally get the chance to wear it.
E IS FOR ENVIOUS
 Rascal has taken a new interest in Nicolette. Rascal realizes that she is fun and
worth hanging out with. Kylie, his girlfriend, is envious that her boyfriend likes
someone other than herself.
F IS FOR FATHER
 Nicolette’s father does not live with her and her mother. He remarried and had
another child with his new wife. Nicolette does not see her father often and she is
angry that he left home. She feels that she has been replaced by her step sister
Autumn.
G IS FOR GLASS
 Jared McCreary has made some enemies at school. The arguments they have had
led to a group of kids smashing Jared’s white Camaro with a baseball bat.
Nicollette notices that there is glass all on the ground near Jared’s car. She has a
feeling that Rascal has something to do with this situation.
H IS FOR HONESTY
 Nicolette has a hard time being honest throughout the book. She believes that she
can’t be honest or the people closest to her will get hurt. She is trying to protect her
mother and her best friend from things that she has done. She constantly thinks about
the secrets that she has been hiding. In the end she feels relieved when all of her
secrets are revealed.
I IS FOR INCOME
 Nicolette’s mother does not have a lot of income coming in from her real estate job.
Nicolette can see that her mother is upset that she can’t pay her bills. Her mother
always looks tired and sad at the end of the day. Nicolette is also upset because she
is scared that they will have to sell their house and move away from her friends.
Nicolette knows that she has to do something to help.
J IS FOR JARED
 Jared McCreary is the main male character in the book. Jared is a high school
senior who drives a white Camaro and comes from a rich family. He is also Alison
McCreary’s older brother. Jared has known Nicolette for a long time because she is
his younger sister Alison’s best friend. Jared finds himself wanting to spend more time
with Nicolette. He used to tease her and make fun of her but now his interests have
changed. Jared is willing to stand up to any guy in school that thinks they are going
to take Nicolette from him. He believes that he is the best for her and it is going to
stay that way.
K IS FOR IS FOR KYLIE
 Kylie is the mean girl at school that makes Nicolette’s life miserable. Nicolette was
thrilled to be going with Rascal to last year’s school dance. She dreamed about
wearing her new dress and sliding across the dance floor in Rascal’s arms. As soon as
Kylie found out that Rascal was going with Nicolette to the dance she re-enrolled in
her old high school and took Rascal back. Kylie believes that she is better then
Nicolette and she reminds her of that every chance she gets.
L IS FOR LIES
 Nicolette and Alison both told each other lies that put their friendship in danger.
Nicolette lied to Alison about the relationship that she had with her brother Jared.
Nicolette knew that Alison was upset that she was spending time with Jared and not
her so she lied when she was with him. Alison lied to Nicolette about knowing how
Kylie found out about her holding the can of beer on the beach. Kylie convinced
Alison that the only reason Nicolette was friends with her was to get close to her
brother Jared. Alison got mad and told Kylie the big secret that no one else was
supposed to know.
M IS FOR MOTHER
 Nicolette’s mother is kind and loving. She works hard and always makes Nicolette
her favorite meals. Nicolette’s mom is a single mother. She works as a real estate
agent in their town. Lately, Nicolette’s mom has been having a hard time paying the
bills because she does not have many clients at work. Nicolette has a plan to help
her mother get back on her feet. Nicolette hopes it works.
N IS FOR NICOLETTE
 Nicolette Antonovich is the main character in the book “Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom
Dress”. Nicolette is a junior in high school who is dealing with a lot of teenage issues. Her
world was shattered when her crush Rascal cancelled on her for the prom at the last minute.
Not only does she have a prom dress that she can’t wear but she is afraid that her mom is
going to lose their house because she can’t pay the bills. Nicolette has counted on her best
friend Alison for as long as she could remember. Nicolette is faced with choosing between
Alison and her new crush Jared who is Alison’s older brother. Nicolette wants her best friend,
a great boy friend and the security of knowing she could stay in her house forever.
O IS FOR OPPORTUNITY
 Nicolette wanted to help her mom to do better at work in the worst way. She took
the opportunity to print flyers at the print shop where Jared worked. She and Jared
then drove to the mall and placed the bright pink flyers on people’s cars. She was
sure that her mom would get more clients because of her efforts.
P IS FOR PROM DRESS
 The perfect pink prom dress lined with poufy crinoline and satin roses sits in a
garment bag behind Nicolette’s bedroom door waiting to be worn. Nicolette likes to
put her prom dress on and imagine what it would have been like to wear the dress to
the most exciting dance of the year.
Q IS FOR QUEEN
 Kylie wants to be the homecoming queen more than anything. When she realizes
that Rascal could get suspended from the homecoming game for fighting with Jared
she knows she has to do something to stop it. Kylie challenges Nicolette to convince
Jared to stop fighting with Rascal. Kylie does not want her boyfriend ruining her
chances to become the queen.
R IS FOR RASCAL
 Ron “Rascal” Pasqual is the boy that broke Nicolette’s heart. He broke their date to
the Prom at the last minute to go with his ex-girlfriend Kylie. The following year at
school, Rascal noticed that Nicolette was spending a lot of time with Jared and was
upset that she stopped paying attention to him. He started a fight with Jared
because he wanted her all to himself.
S IS FOR SNEAKY
 Nicolette wanted to help her mom pay the bills. She knew the only way to do that
was for her to ask her dad for money. She and her mother had not talked to her dad
in a long time. She knew her mother would be angry if she knew that she asked her
dad for help. Nicolette felt as if she had no other choice. She begged her dad to
give her the money but not to tell her mother where it came from. Her dad agreed to
help her. Nicolette was very sneaky because she lied to her mom and coach about
where she was going. She also made her mother believe that the money she gave to
her came from her grandmother who died.
T IS FOR TEAMMATES
 Nicolette played on the volley ball team at school. She was a serious player and
wanted to do well for herself and her teammates. She always gave her best so that
her coach and her team would be proud of her.
U IS FOR UNDERSTANDING
 Nicolette loved playing volley ball. She knew that if she continued to do well that she may
be able to get a scholarship to college for her success in the sport. Her coach was very tough
and expected all of the girls to be good students and excellent players. Nicolette had
something hanging over her head that could ruin her chances of ever getting that scholarship.
In the summer, her best friend Alison snapped a picture of her holding a beer for a boy on the
beach. She thought that Alison had deleted it until she was being blackmailed by Kylie with
the same picture. She decided to explain the situation to her coach before she found out in
the wrong way. She explained to the coach that volley ball meant everything to her and that
she was truly only holding the beer. The coach was very understanding and told Nicolette to
skip practice for the day and go home and rest.
V IS FOR VOMIT
 Kylie is known for vomiting at school. Sophomore year she vomited in the cafeteria
in from of all of her friends. After that event, Rascal gave her the name “Chunky.” In
the present year she finally got what she deserved for being mean to Nicolette. Not
only did she not win the title of homecoming queen, but she vomited all over her
expensive designer dress in the bathroom at the prom. She will always be known as
“Chunky.”
W IS FOR WAGER
 As Nicolette and Jared were placing flyers on people’s car at the mall, they came
across a farmers’ market. A huge inflatable obstacle course stood right in the middle
of the lot. They both excitedly agreed to try it out. Jared suggested that they agree
on a wager to make the activity more exciting. They agreed that if Nicolette won she
would have to buy Jared lunch. If Jared won, Nicolette would have to wash his car in
her bathing suit. Nicolette was determined to win.
X IS FOR EXQUISITE
 Nicolette admired the way Kylie looked. She thought she was exquisite with her
blond hair, perfect makeup and beautiful figure. She imagined that Kylie spent more
time primping herself every morning than she would have getting ready for the prom.
Y IS FOR YARD
 Both Jared and Rascal like Nicolette. Jared does not want Rascal to go near her.
When Jared found Rascal waiting for Nicolette outside her house he got very angry.
He told Rascal to leave Nicolette alone. The argument lead to a fist fight that took
place right there in Nicolette’s yard.
Z IS FOR ZOE
 Zoe was a girl on Nicolette’s volley ball team. Nicolette didn’t consider Zoe to be
a best friend like Alison but she enjoyed spending time with her. Both girls supported
and encouraged each other to go out and win each game. Nicolette was there for
Zoe when her boyfriend broke up with her. She also cheered her on when she found
a great new guy to take her to the Homecoming dance.
THE END!!!