You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

★★★★½

Liz is a poor, Black, queer teenager in a wealthy, predominantly white Indiana suburb that is obsessed with prom. She is an unlikely candidate for prom queen, but enters the competition in hopes of winning the college scholarship that goes with the crown. Over the course of the campaign, we see Liz gain confidence as she asserts herself as worthy of the title and learns that, despite usually being on the margins of her high school's social scene, she, too, can feel like she belongs. Along the way, she has to navigate complex friendships, serious and emotional family matters, and a budding romance.

Published and set in a pandemic-free 2020, the book feels modern and relevant, with characters matter-of-factly acknowledging the importance of consent for both casual physical contact and romantic overtures. There are plenty of pop culture references, the pages sprinkled with passing mentions of celebrities like Simone Biles and Timothée Chalamet, and shows like Hamilton and Stranger Things. Entertaining and funny, the book is light and easy-to-read, though it also addresses some heavy issues like the loss of a parent and life-threatening illness.

Liz's first romantic relationship is a typical teenage romance, the object of her affection just happens to be a girl. Her sexuality is not a central focus of the book, though it does realistically come into play as a factor in her electability as prom queen. Similarly, Liz's race is not a primary focus of the book, but her being one of the few Black students in school does come up. In fact, I had a little chuckle when Liz's narrative referenced one of my favorite memes: "I try to channel the confidence of a mediocre white man in a boardroom: untouchable." (p. 255)

I'm giving this book just half a star shy of 5 stars because I didn't think it was believable that Liz wasn't disciplined after her very public use of the F-word in school. (For those who might want to know, the F-word is only explicitly written out once; after that, "eff" is used instead.) Also, I get that Rachel was supposed to be an unsympathetic character, but in a book full of well-fleshed-out characters, she just felt too one-dimensional to me.

While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams

★★★★

I don't usually read political thrillers, but I follow American politics, and the author being Stacey Abrams was enough to pique my interest.

I got the feeling that Abrams really enjoyed writing this book. There were lots of fun word choices, like when a woman is described as "an eggplant-attired matron of impeccable breeding and questionable chromatic theory." (p. 177) I could just imagine the author chuckling to herself and being really proud of that phrasing.

This book is a light read, easy and entertaining. My husband would call it "popcorn reading". There is drama from the very beginning and the action is non-stop, with quite a few unexpected developments. It was certainly a page-turner for me, with sufficient suspense to keep me wondering and occasional oblique references to things you assume will be spelled out later. Early on there was what I considered an unrealistic guessing of a password - Do people really have predictable passwords these days? - but I got over it and made sure to put myself into suspended disbelief mode for the rest of the book. It was easy to imagine the story unfolding like in a movie; if it gets adapted, I'd see it for sure!

Incidentally, I appreciated the diversity of the characters; the protagonist is mixed-race white and Black, and her best friend is Asian.