About:

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson is a young lesbian girl’s coming of age story. The main character Liz Lighty is in her senior year and waiting to see if she will be selected for a scholarship in her dream orchestra program at her dream school. She ultimately decides to enter her school’s prom court contest to try to earn the title of queen and the scholarship that comes along with it.

Review:

In You Should See Me in a Crown we have another example of Black excellence and the pressure that can come along with it. Liz Lighty excels both in the academic arena and the music space. She doesn’t get the orchestra scholarship that she has been looking forward to for all of her high school career. It was the scholarship that was meant to help her get to the same college as her late mother. Her next opportunity to get the scholarship money is to enter her school’s contest to become prom queen. This is completely out of character for her but, her friends and family step up to help her along the way. 

Liz entering the contest shakes up the dynamic in her small Indiana town. Poor black girls aren’t supposed to win prom queen. They aren’t supposed to have the audacity to believe they can disrupt the town’s traditions in this way. But, Liz doesn’t care – her focus is achieving her dreams of honoring her mother’s legacy and going to the same college as her. We learn that there is more that makes Liz other than her race and socioeconomic status. She also likes girls. She begins to date and fall for the love interest Amanda (bka Mack).

Liz’s journey towards accepting herself and  finding her tribe/where she belongs is an inspiring story. Even though this was a Young Adult novel, I found that I learned more about myself and found some confidence as I read. I was rooting for Liz start to finish. I just want all Black girls to win. 

This has been one of my favorite reads of the podcast. It was a beautifully written story of family, friendship, and first love. She faced several academic and personal challenges, realizing in the end  she doesn’t have to face them alone. Everyone should pick this book up, it was a delight to read.