Taking Off the Princess Dress

Ali and her four friends in Maryland have long dreamed about entering high school—playing soccer in a stadium, slipping off their parents’ radar and perhaps falling in love. But once things heat up for naïve, cautious Erin, Ali fears they’re in over their heads. Yet foul-mouthed Amanda and her uproarious sidekick Haley crack jokes and scoff at all brake-pumping. They can’t wait to party like their older siblings.
To weather the pressures of school, home, and unstable boyfriends the girls lean on each other. But pensive Ali fears her secret struggle with suicidal forces is too dark a burden to share. An exploit into the secret lives of teenagers, suburban family turmoil, girls’ desire to be wanted and the powerful, complicated forces shaping emerging female sexuality, Taking Off the Princess Dress challenges the inherited notion of prince charming, while its heroines hold nothing back.