Liz Lighty

Liz Lighy is the novel’s teenaged protagonist who longs to leave her hometown of Campbell, Indiana and escape their prom and image obsessed culture. She is Black and queer and feels completely out of her element among her conservative peers. She makes plans to start a new life at the elite Pennington College where she dreams of joining their music program and studying to become a doctor. Liz initially hopes to attend Pennington with the help of a scholarship, but when the scholarship does not come through, she must find another way to finance her education.

Liz reluctantly joins the prom hopefuls in search of the scholarship that comes with the crown. Even though Liz struggles with anxiety and dislikes being the center of attention, she is fueled by the desire of achieving Pennington and making her late mother proud. Liz lost her mother to sickle-cell...