Liz Lighty is a strong, driven, Black teenage girl from a small southern town, and she has big dreams for the future. To afford this, she runs for prom queen to win the monetary prize—but she is not like any other prom queen, and she paves the way for other students who don’t fit the conventional definition of popularity. Appropriate for middle-school readers, this novel lends itself well as part of a literature circle. Liz’s conflicts in her environment and within herself as well as her evolving sexual identity can be explored in a Physical and Health Education or English classroom.