You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
Scholastic Press, 2020, 336 pages
Trigger Warnings: death of a parent, character with chronic illness, character with anxiety/panic attacks, character being outed, homophobia, bullying
About the Author: Leah Johnson is a writer, editor and eternal Midwesterner, currently moonlighting as a New Yorker. She is a graduate of the fiction writing MFA program at Sarah Lawrence College, and currently teaches in their undergraduate writing program. Leah is a 2021 Lambda Literary Emerging Writers Fellow whose work has been published or is forthcoming in BuzzFeed, Autostraddle, Catapult, and Electric Literature among others. When she’s not writing, you can usually find her on Twitter, ranting about pop culture and politics. Her YA novels You Should See Me in a Crown (June 2020) and Rise to the Sun (2021) are forthcoming from Scholastic. (Bio taken from the author’s website.)
Author’s Website: https://www.byleahjohnson.com/
Instagram: @byleahjohnson
Twitter: @byleahjohnson
Liz Lighty has a plan: fly under the radar for the rest of senior year in her small Indiana hometown and attend her dream school in the fall with a music scholarship. Then her financial aid falls through and Liz must find a new way forward. The only catch: the solution to her problem lands Liz in the spotlight—and may require a ball gown. With a scholarship promised to the upcoming king and queen of her high school’s prom, Liz decides to campaign for the crown herself. But when she falls hard for Mack—the charismatic new girl at school who is also running for prom queen—things get complicated, putting both Liz’s future and her heart on the line.
Smart, funny, and full of heart, You Should See Me in a Crown is a spectacular debut from Leah Johnson. In this sapphic twist on the classic high school prom narrative, Johnson brings an unforgettable and unstoppable hero to the page in Liz Lighty—a queer, Black young woman determined to achieve her dreams. With adorable romance and heartfelt friendship, readers will be grinning with glee from start to finish. The perfect read for Pride month—or any day of the year— You Should See Me in a Crown is a fantastic story about finding young love, fighting for your future, and claiming your crown.
PRR Writer, Hannah Miller
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