You Should See Me in a Crown, written by Leah Johnson, reviewed by Bethany Bratney

Summary: Liz Lighty feels most comfortable playing or listening to music and blending in with her surroundings. Things might have been a little different before her mom passed away, or before her best friend Jordan blew her off hard in ninth grade, but now she’s just focused on her own goals and future - get a music performance scholarship to go to her dream school, Pennington, so she can become a doctor and save lives. When her scholarship falls through, Liz feels defeated, her college dreams dashed. But then, her brother reminds her of a very important, overlooked opportunity. Their high school, in small town Campbell, Indiana, is prom-obsessed and has a pageant-like process to nominate candidates for prom king and queen, titles that come with hefty prize money. Liz already has the best grades in school, so she’ll just have to add in some community service and popular pre-prom activities to be in the running. But being involved in prom will mean that Liz has to spend significant time with arch-enemy Rachel, former best friend, Jordan, and intriguing new girl, Mack. Liz isn’t sure she can make it through the competition without having a panic attack, or without getting closer to Mack, a move that would send her conservative community spinning. But if she wants to go to Pennington, Prom Queen money is her only option. 

Straight Talk for Librarians: You Should See Me in a Crown boasts the wonderful balance of a book that addresses serious life and societal issues (poverty, racism, anxiety, microaggressions, genetic disease, homophobia), but manages to do so in a manner that does not feel so heavy to the reader. Liz’s family and friends are (mostly) positive forces in her life and provide her with lots of love and support. She has a wonderful sense of humor, which she shares with the reader, and many of the prom events and antics add levity to the storyline. The result is this gem of a novel that reads like a feel good story even though it tackles Liz’s realistic problems. This book provides a lot of representation for readers in Liz’s African-American family and friends, Liz’s struggle with anxiety and panic attacks, Liz’s identification as a cis lesbian, and the sickel cell anemia that has caused disruption and tragedy in Liz’s family. Liz lives in a small town in which most of the other people do not identify similarly to Liz, so she provides a strong voice for any reader who often finds themself “othered” in their community. As is true with many underdog stories, in the end, both Liz and the reader discover that Liz is not the loner that she thinks she is, and that the majority of her classmates support her because of her uniqueness. This poignant, but still often light-hearted story is a must purchase item for any high school library.