CCBC booklist are compiled from books we have recommended in various editions of CCBC Choices. Most of these booklists are updated annually. You can also select books from one or more booklists to create a custom list, which can also include additional books from the CCBC-Recommended Book Search.
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You Should See Me in a Crown
CCBC Review:
Running for prom queen is way outside high school senior Liz Lighty’s comfort zone, but she’s motivated by the $10,000 scholarship for the winner, since she didn’t get the music scholarship she was counting on for college. The Prom Court competition is a huge, drawn out affair in their small town, with weeks of challenges in which candidates vie for points and popularity. Liz is one of a small number of Black students at her small-town Indiana high school and out only to her closest friends. One of them throws herself into managing Liz’s campaign, seeking to transform quiet, intentionally under-the-radar Liz into a serious contender. New student Mack (Amanda McCarthy) is also running. Mack, a legacy (her mother was prom queen) and Liz are soon falling for each other, and it’s both exciting and complicated: Mack doesn’t care about winning but doesn’t want a closeted relationship, and Liz is convinced a lesbian has no chance of being prom queen. A novel offering both humor and substance combines romance with friendship tension and family worries, including Liz’s brother illness: Robbie has sickle cell anemia, the same disease that killed their mom. This thoughtful and entertaining story also examines the high school’s failure to support LGBTQ students, and Liz’s love of music. Above all, it celebrates Liz’s growing confidence in asserting all aspects of her identity, for love, yes, but first and foremost for herself. ©2021 Cooperative Children’s Book Center
CCBC Age Recommendation: Age 12 and older
Age Range:
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Grades 9-12 (Age 14 and older)
Format:
Novel
Subjects:
Affirmation
African Americans
Brothers
College
Competitions and Contests
Friendship
Homophobia
Humor
Identity
Illness and Disease
Lesbians
LGBTQ+ Persons
Love and Romance
School
Diversity subject:
Black/African
LGBTQ Character/Topic
Physical
On CCBC Booklist:
School Stories: Selected PreK-12 Literature about the School Experience
Publisher:
Scholastic Press
Publish Year: 2020
Pages: 324
ISBN: 9781338503265
CCBC Location: Fiction, Johnson
Can’t find what you’re looking for? Our Recommended Book Search includes access to CCBC-recommended titles based on subject headings created by our staff.
Please send questions or comments about CCBC booklists to ccbcinfo@education.wisc.edu.