Dallas Lalone: In Our Words

by Jodi R. Moore

We met at The Ranch—the three of us, each from a different place, dealing with different issues. Parents separating. A serious injury. Feeling alone. But the night we first watched those videos together, somehow we were able to escape from it all. That was when we became Lalonies—before such a word even existed. His dreams became our dreams for him, and along the way, we dreamed new dreams for ourselves. This is our story about Dallas Lalone.

For more information, visit DallasLalone.com.

134 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2013

About the author

Jodi R. Moore (jodirmoore.com) writes about teens going after their dreams and making them happen, including a science enthusiast’s quest to cure acne in Let’s Face It (letsfaceitbook.com) and a fictional YouTube singer’s rise to fame in Dallas Lalone: In Our Words (DallasLalone.com). She draws from her experiences in the entertainment industry with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's Dualstar Entertainment Group, Universal Music Group, and The Walt Disney Company. A graduate of Stanford University, Jodi currently lives in Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Aubrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book from Jodi R. Moore to review. A review of her other book, Let's Face It, can be found on my blog:
http://funsmartreviews.blogspot.com/2...

Dallas Lalone: In Our Words, is a young adult novel about three girls, Ashley, Lauren, and Hannah, each learning to overcome their individual struggles. At the beginning of the book, Ashley is suffering from an injury that impedes her ability to participate in dancing, which is her passion. Lauren's parents are considering a divorce due to drama in the media about Lauren's father, a famous director, rumors of a presumable affair. Hannah is lacking confidence of her abilities and interests, and in turn is struggling to deal with bullying from her peers. The girls happen to meet over Thanksgiving break, when, upon meeting, Hannah introduces Ashley and Lauren to videos of her favorite YouTuber, Dallas Lalone. Throughout the rest of the book , through their friendship and shared interest in Dallas, the girls learn to cope with their circumstances.

It is amazing that this book encourages girls to look to their friends for support rather than do what so many teens are pressured to do- put out a false image of themselves in order to gain validation from others. Young girls need to know that the best way to have an enjoyable and satisfying middle and high school years is to stop stifling their real selves and spend time with people who don't force them to hide.

The novel is written in a simple style, almost like short journal entries from each of our protagonists. While each girl has individual quirks and interests, their voice in writing is almost uniform, which might be something to look at. For interest, in Let's Face It, Kaylin was intelligent and witty, so both characteristics clearly came across from her as the speaker of the book. It might have added to the personalities and relatability of the girls if they had each written a bit differently.

I found this book to be a simple, positive read, likely geared towards younger girls who have anxieties about putting themselves out there and embracing their unique talents, even those they didn't know they had. I am grateful for the opportunity to read this book and will likely pass it along to my younger cousin in a few years.

[Carolyn Guerrero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dallas Lalone: In Our Words is a young adult novel that deals with three girls who bond over the fictional internet sensation Dallas Lalone. Each girl struggles with her own personal problems - problems that most any young adult reader could relate to - but throughout the novel, each learns important lessons towards dealing with these problems.

While the book is targeted towards Austin Mahone fans, anyone who has ever been a fan of a YouTube cover artist (such as Christina Grimmie or Tyler Ward) would resonate with the feelings shared by the young girls in the novel. The book is very well-written and easy to follow. Though it is targeted towards a younger audience, I think anyone with a background in YouTube would find this novel enjoyable. (I certainly did!) Additionally, the novel shares important and motivational messages of self belief and perseverance.

As a fun bonus to the novel, readers can find a recording of 2:22, one of Dallas Lalone's songs, on the book's companion website: www.dallaslalone.com

I received this novel through Goodread's First Reads program.

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book as an advanced readers copy. This book is good. It is not something that I normally read, but I had no trouble picking it up. It is about three girls, Lauren, Hannah and Ashley. These three girls have come together by chance and are united by their love of Dallas Lalone. Dallas is a singer who hopes to make it big time. His fans are there every step of the way, making his dreams come true. In this book the girls support Dallas with their fandom, yet Dallas also shows the girls how to be themselves and how to accept themselves. There was never any boring parts, yet there is not much action. The story is told from the three perspectives of the girls and tweets and posts from Dallas. I liked the way the ending circled around with the beginning. I recommend this book to anyone who likes a motivational story.

[Maci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dallas Lalone: In our Words by Jodi R. Moore is about a guy named Dallas Lalone. Dallas Lalone starts a youtube channel because he wants to become a singer, so he posts videos of him singing. Soon he has lots of fangirls that love him. Hannah, Ashely, and Lauren are some of those fangirls. They all meet at a place called The Ranch. At The Ranch Hannah introduces them to Dallas's youtube channel. They soon become good friends. But they are all having issues, Ashely, a dancer, may not be able to dance ever again, Hannah is feeling lonely, and Lauren parents are separating. They help Dallas's dreams come true, while helping each other over their own issues.

It was really cool to see how powerful the social media is. This book really showed how normal people can really make stuff happen. I would recommend this book to any fangirl, no matter who you love.