Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.Īutumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart their mothers are still best friends. The queer prom romance you didn’t know you needed. Liz and Jordan are Black supporting characters appear White by default. Johnson does an excellent job of portraying the anxiety and internalized self-hatred from being different in a mostly White, affluent small town. While the hullabaloo around prom seems far-fetched, the lead-up to the dance is pitch-perfect rom-com. The race for the crown gets complicated when Liz falls for one of the other competitors, Jordan tries to rekindle their friendship, and a friend urges her to change everything about herself in order to win. When her brother convinces her that running for prom queen-with its $10,000 scholarship prize-is the answer, she enters the competition. Because despite doing everything right-excellent grades, solid extracurriculars, and playing first-chair clarinet-she doesn’t win a much-needed scholarship at her dream school. But now, as a senior, Liz has to put herself in the spotlight to secure her future. She began wearing her hair pulled back, chose less colorful clothing, and did her best to blend in so no one would notice her.
After being snubbed by her best friend, Jordan, in favor of his new football friends on the first day of high school, Liz Lighty felt acute shame about being herself and all the things that made her different: her height, being Black and queer, and not having enough money.
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