Book Club November 2020- You Should See Me in a Crown
By: Leah Johnson
Published Year: 2020
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Pages: 336
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Liz Lighty has always believed she's too black, too poor, too awkward to shine in her small, rich, prom-obsessed midwestern town. But it's okay -- Liz has a plan that will get her out of Campbell, Indiana, forever: attend the uber-elite Pennington College, play in their world-famous orchestra, and become a doctor.
But when the financial aid she was counting on unexpectedly falls through, Liz's plans come crashing down . . . until she's reminded of her school's scholarship for prom king and queen. There's nothing Liz wants to do less than endure a gauntlet of social media trolls, catty competitors, and humiliating public events, but despite her devastating fear of the spotlight she's willing to do whatever it takes to get to Pennington.
The only thing that makes it halfway bearable is the new girl in school, Mack. She's smart, funny, and just as much of an outsider as Liz. But Mack is also in the running for queen. Will falling for the competition keep Liz from her dreams . . . or make them come true?
What I thought
Liz lives in small town outside of Indianapolis where Prom is a massive deal as is fitting in. Liz already stands out being poor and black, which is why she hides the fact that she’s queer. When she decides to run for prom, it’s initially just for the scholarship. But then it becomes something more.
I read this book in a day. It’s an easy read and was very cute. I loved all of the prom drama and different things that the potential kings and queens had to do. I liked Liz as well. She was awkward and nerdy but had a good heart. There were a few little bits here and there that felt thrown in at the last minute, but overall it was a really cute book.
This is the first young adult book to have been picked by Reese Witherspoon and while I can see her reasons, I do think there are better books out there. If I was between two diverse, young adult, debut books, I would pick This is My America over this one every time. Granted, they’re two very different types of books, but I think that one will stick with me much longer than this one.
This book is almost pure fun with some prejudice thrown in. I also was intrigued by the fact that her brother had sickle cell anemia and wish that there had been a little bit more to the story. I think between that, the prom, her friends, and the relationship there was a lot going on. In my opinion, a few things here and there could’ve been taken out so that other parts could’ve had more focus and a little bit more meat. But overall, I did enjoy the book and would gladly visit these characters and this town again.
What Book Club Thought
Oddly, talking about this book with book club made me like this book a little bit less. We were talking about a lot of the details and I started to realized that there were a lot of little things that didn’t match up and bothered me. The rest of book club really enjoyed the book. We agreed that it was a fun, light hearted novel and easy to read. I think it also made for some good discussion because we definitely talked about high school and what it would’ve been like in small town Indiana.