Prom Queen Rivalry But Make It Bi: Read Leah Johnson’s Debut Novel

Leah Johnson’s debut novel, that recently landed on our list of queer book releases for 2021, tells the story of Liz, a teenager longing to leave her hometown of Campbell, Indiana. Liz plans to start a new life at the elite Pennington College, where she aims to join their world-renowned orchestra and study to become a doctor.

But, in order to enroll in her dream school, Liz needs to rely on financial aid. Unfortunately, as it often occurs, the aid suddenly becomes unavailable. This forces Liz to go for another option that, to say the least, does not really appeal to her. She has to go the way of beauty queens, and reluctantly decides to join a contest at her high school, awarding scholarships to the prom king and queen.

Liz has to overcome her fear of being the center of attention, the possibility of being trolled on social media and dislikes public events. So far, so ordinary; a classical novel we all have read in our teenage years. But here comes the twist: will Liz be able to achieve her dream, when she finds herself falling for her prom queen competition, the bright and witty Mack? Finding out you are bisexual can be confusing in any situation, but it is definitely worse when your first crush is on your rival for prom queen.

Caught between the epic highs and lows of high school love, loss, and prom Liz will have to work her way through all the challenges - except, 10 times worse because college is on the line.

One thing is for sure, we CANNOT wait for you to read Leah’s book and let us know what you think!

Photo credits: Carly-Rae London