SLUMMING

In this Pygmalion story with a twist, three provincial high-school seniors, all Mormons with conventional values, bet that each can befriend a classmate with untapped potential, change him or her for the better, then take that person to the prom. But the chosen students, who have their own agendas, are more resistant than flattered, and it’s the triad of heroes—two girls and guy—who end up having their eyes opened. Alternately narrated in the first person by the three protagonists, there are a lot of characters and stories to keep track of and it takes a while to key into their various situations. The tales, one that involves the long-term sexual abuse of a minor, one that ends in an ugly hazing and humiliation, and one about a centered geek, don’t entirely fit together. Still, a thoughtful work about the nature of doing good. (Fiction. YA)