I went to the oppening last night with my daughter and a few of her friends. I have not read the book and while I can see where it would have been helpful if I had, I wont say that it is a must. There were a couple of scenes where giggles arose from the audience and I had to get an explaination from the girls. But that was only in the first 15 minutes. The acting was ok, but there were a few moments where I thought it was very weak. The story line was, romantic, cute, and totally appropriate for teens. However, I disagree with another reviewer who said the story moved too fast and jumped around too much. I thought it actually moved along very slow, almost to the point of "dragging."