In honor of Pride month The Bootleg Book Club read You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
About the Author
Leah Johnson was raised on the west side of Indianapolis, Indiana. While in college at Indiana University Bloomington, she interned at the Wall Street Journal, WFIU, and WPLN. Johnson received her MFA in fiction writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Leah currently lives in Brooklyn, her debut novel helped her with accepting her queer identity, it was a Stonewall Honor Book, the inaugural Reese’s Book Club YA pick, and named a best book of the year by Amazon, Kirkus, Marie Claire, Publishers Weekly, and New York Public Library.
Book Look
This book has a vibrant purple background with the profile image of a young black girl with natural hair, a crown on her head, and a smile on her face. This cover immediately showcases the wonderful joy and happiness a Black girl can embody.
Bookmark
“The place in which I’ll fit will not exist until I make it” James Baldwin
I’m sorry I never told you to slow down when I saw how hard you were pushing yourself. … my little star. I never want to tell you not to burn as fast and as bright as you can” 246
“I never needed this race or a hashtag or the king to be a queen. I was born royalty. All I had to do was pick up my crown.” p.390
“Just because it could be worse doesn’t mean you don’t get to acknowledge how much it sucks, you know.” p. 474
POV
Samantha’s favorite character/group was how the main character’s ,Liz’s, family unit worked together. Felicia’s favorite character was the band teacher and Mack. Both individuals were great people who truly supported Liz and ensured she knew her worth. Both Sam and Felicia agree that the obvious least favorite character choice is Rachcel the main villain in the story.
Deep Dive
This novel was a great coming of age, young adult romance story. Leah Johnson writes with charisma and a unique tone that immediately gets readers interested in the book. Sam and Felicia dive into how this novel made them think about their high school memories and what it felt like to lack confidence in yourself. In addition, the co-host talked about how race, class, and sexual orientation impact the main character’s journey.
Our 9th pick is a second chance at love story that also includes themes of family, motherhood, ancestry, masculinity, and vulnerability.
About the Author
Tia Williams is an accomplished beauty editor and novelist. She is from Virginia and attended University of Virginia. She currently resides in Brooklyn, NY and is an Executive Copy Director at Estee Lauder Companies. Her novel The Perfect Find won the African American Literary Award for Best Fiction and Seven Days in June is her 6th novel.
Book Look
The sisters, Sam and Felicia admired the cover of the novel noting the beautiful embrace of the couple and the interesting use of bright and dark colors. The collage-esque color is a nod to how important art is in this book. The book is 328 pages and includes discussion questions for a book club. Seven Days in June is a beautiful story with some dark moments that highlights what a second chance at love can look like while being true to yourself. A main theme is reconnection, not only in romance, but in familial and ancestral bonds.
Bookmark
Some quotes the sisters found to be profound.
“Alone doesn’t care that I don’t shave my legs in the winter. Alone never gets disappointed by me.” pg. 23
“Listen, caring about things don’t make you soft. It makes you alive.” Pg. 42
“Just be an active listener. If you listen hard enough, you can tell what a person needs from you. And If you give them what they need, you’ve got a friend for life.” pg. 570
POV
The sisters both loved the main characters and couple Eva and Shane. They couldn’t help but feel connected and fall in love with the characters as their story unfolded. Their favorite characters were Audre (Eva’s daughter) and Cece (Eva’s editor). Their least favorite characters were Khalil (another writer/hotep) and Lizette (Eva’s mother).
Deep Dive
The sisters both agreed that Seven Days in June should come with a trigger warning due to its dark themes in the flashbacks to Eva and Shane’s time in highschool. While these moments were difficult to read they were important and highlighted the deepness of Eva and Shane’s love even at 17 years old. Ultimately, they don’t reconnect until 15 years later but the book does a good job of making you believe in second chances and the idea that there are some people that after connecting with them you realize you need to have them in your life. The sisters enjoyed the novel immensely and found it inspired them to keep mantras to push them forward towards dreams that represent their true selves.
Happily Ever Afters by Elise Bryant is a fresh, funny, and fantastic read. I’m giving this novel a 3.5 because I wasn’t locked in and loving it all the way through. But, I still highly suggest you get a copy and read it for yourself.
About:
Happily Ever Afters is a novel about Tessa, a young high school girl with a passion and gift to write. She attends a new school where she can learn in an environment dedicated to the arts. But, at this new school she struggles with writing new material and starts to doubt her place at school. In order to regain her writing spirit Tessa and her best friend create a plan for Tessa to experience her own love story in hopes that real life experiences will help Tessa to write again.
Review:
Elise Bryant is a very talented writer. I enjoyed her style of writing and the voice she gave Tessa. I wasn’t super into the actual storyline but I did find delight in the character development and the care/ detail descriptions in certain scenes.
I think that the energy Tessa gave certain people in the book who did not deserve her attention was frustrating. Tessa is such an amazing, chill, and artistic young girl who becomes enamored by the popular crowd despite having a solid friend group of her own. At the end of the day she acted like a typical young girl who needs to build up her confidence. Elise definitely succeeded in capturing the tone and struggles of the young Black girl experience.
There is no doubt in my mind that Sam, Tessa’s new friend, was my favorite character. I am team Sam everyday, allday and I wish I could read more scenes with him and Tessa. His ability to be such a wholesome person was so refreshing. He was just a young boy working on his cooking craft. There were other great characters but I really like the way Elise placed Sam as such a good friend and ally for Tessa to have in her life.
Again, I wasn’t too into the storyline because it didn’t excite me or make me want to keep on turning the page. I did appreciate that Elise touches on themes related to disability, friendship, mental health, and anxiety. This book did remind me of what it was like to be in high school. I was just like Tessa, an antsy girl who had talent but doubted her own skills and was up to crazy antics. Elise also touches on themes related to disability, friendship, mental health, and anxiety.
I would suggest reading this book and I am planning to read the next book in the series.
Hey, Brown Girl by Janay Harden is a coming of age young adult novel that focuses on 17 year old Raven as she navigates her family and school drama, anxiety, and transitions within friendship groups. While the main focus is on Raven, each member of the family has at least one chapter in which their personal thoughts and feelings are captured. It was a quick read but does touch on adult themes although it is marketed as a young adult novel. In fact, there are moments where I wondered if this book should come along with a trigger warning for certain themes the author chose to touch on.
Review:
Janay Harden is a licensed social worker and therapist. It is clear from the book that Ms. Harden has a background in mental health in the way that all of the problems in the book seem to be solved by therapy and self-love. The book presents several different relatable issues such as anxiety, resentment towards parents, child neglect, and drug abuse. If you have not experienced one of these issues, you’re often not too far removed from someone who has.
The friendship that Raven has built with three other black girls in her neighborhood is beautiful to read about and it makes you think fondly of your own friendships or desire that type of friendship. However, the friendship is tested when Raven is challenged to reflect on her behavior and consider whether she is always being the best friend she can be to her girls or if she is centering herself.
This challenge is amidst several other challenges – Raven’s cousin has come to live with her, she is challenged for her spot as dance team captain, and she is battling anxiety. As Raven contends with each of these issues with the help of her school assigned counselor it’s like reading therapy in book form. She learns to cope with each issue and learns to have confidence within herself to know she can be triumphant in the face of all these issues.
Ms. Harden follows along with the other family members and this is where keeping up with the plot gets tricky. I understand that the author was looking to give everyone a happily ever after and perhaps even demonstrate how each family issue can be worked out in a healthy manner, but I think it would have been best to fully develop Raven’s story and maybe make a book series out of each family member’s story.
We learn about the racial identity challenges of Raven’s mother, Blair. The abuse Phoenix (Raven’s grandmother) suffered. The neglect Carter (her cousin) experiences and more. These are all tough issues to work through and I don’t know that the happily ever after that is achieved in just a few chapters is realistic.
Overall, the book was a solid read and could be useful for anyone looking for positive ways to deal with the challenges the book touches on. It is filled with both therapeutic lessons as well as generational wisdom.
Felicia with one of her favorite authors, Edwidge Danticat, Haitian-American novelist
Welcome to the Bootleg Book Club! My sister, Sam, and I are building a space for any kind of reader to come and discover what to read. We welcome avid readers, book lovers, and reading beginners to our Bootleg Book Club. Twice a month we will discuss a book during our video podcast to help expand and broaden listeners’ reading experience. This is a friendly environment where we nurture and develop deep interest, passion, and appreciation for the reading world. The ultimate purpose of the Bootleg Book Club is to hold ourselves accountable for reading all kinds of books that allow us to have candid conversations that enrich our reading journey and lives.
Who am I?
I am a pink lover, musical fanatic, and planner enthusiast who found comfort in reading at a young age. The first book series I fell in love with was the Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborne. From there, I read many other books in all kinds of genres and as I got older my taste in reading grew with me. I truly felt at peace while I was reading and I still feel a sense of happiness when I have a book in my hand.
My Reading Journey
As I developed a passion for reading, I discovered that not everyone enjoyed reading as much as I did. Children in my class never expressed an interest in books. Students hated to go to the library and did not like any summer reading assignment. While I lived for library days and summer reading logs. My family always supported my reading obsession. In particular, my aunt was my biggest supporter. Not only did she buy and find books for me to read, she would read along with me. This was the initial formation of The Bootleg Book Club.
My aunt and I would mainly read young adult novels together. We would find books at the bookstore or library to read. When we both finished the book, I would spend the night at her house to share a few laughs, tears, and ideas about the book. Then one day after returning home from living abroad my oldest sister joined us as we read a new series. All the fun and great memories I made with my aunt increased once my sister joined us. Eventually, my other sister became a part of the crew the next summer.
After heading off to college, I still loved to read and I even found a few friends who loved to read too. However, between all of the class lectures, assignments, and student organizations I no longer had all of the time to read the books I wanted to read. So, the first summer I came back home from school I created a summer reading list that I wanted to get through. On the top of that list was Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan.
The Official Bootleg Book Club
That same summer my older sisters were home and my aunt lived 5 minutes away from our house. Once they knew of my reading goals they all wanted to join in the fun. But, being very thrifty people we said why buy 4 copies of the same book when we could just get 1. So, I bought the book and we planned to each have the book for two weeks. By the end of the summer the book was torn up. After taking the book to coffee shops, bookstores, vacations, and all sorts of places it had seen better days. There were countless ripped pages, dog eared corners, and mysterious stains that the book received.
Our book was well read and well loved. At the end of the summer we talked about the book. The dialogue was intense, hilarious, and wonderful to have. We even had debates about book etiquette and how to read. As four dynamic women we definitely had our fair share of opinions. Overall, it was a great experience, even watching the film adaptation was icing on the cake. We knew it was a bootlegged way to start a book club like this but it worked for us. We were always aunties angels and now we are The Bootleg Book Club.
What’s Next?
After graduating from college, work life and adulting has become a bit mundane. Especially with living a post grad life during a pandemic. I really want to feel a spark of joy for something I do every day. Currently, a practical job is providing the stability I need but it is not fulfilling the creative spirit that is stirring inside me. As an avid reader I am excited to combine my reading ambition, writing aspirations, and sisterly love into a new project that will open the doors to more reading and community.
I urge you to follow us on all of our Social Media Platforms and Save the Date for the Launch of our first Podcast. We are reading Lizzie Damilola Blackburn’s debut novel Yinka, Where is Your Huzband? This book is a timely and perfect fit for Valentine’s Day coming so grab your own copy to read along with us or wait for our review.
The Bootleg Book Club 