JUNE 2021 - AudioFile
Alternating narrators tell the story of two Black teens who meet at the Farmland Music and Arts Festival. Sixteen-year-old Olivia has become an outcast at school after a revenge porn incident with her popular ex-boyfriend. Lexi Underwood’s narration highlights Olivia’s feelings of vulnerability and betrayal. Impulsive and prone to falling in love fast, she tries to avoid her old patterns when she meets 17-year-old Toni. Because Toni’s father has recently died, she’s afraid of being close to anyone again. Alaska Jackson highlights Toni’s prickly aloofness, which fades as the teens fall in love. Both narrators capture the tone of teenagers getting to know each other while grappling with past mistakes. S.C. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
★ 05/31/2021
Johnson’s (You Should See Me in a Crown) sophomore work sees chronically heartbroken 16-year-old Olivia Brooks fleeing Indiana to Georgia’s Farmland Music and Arts Festival to outrun the painful betrayal of her latest ex-boyfriend. Prone to falling in love at the drop of a hat, Olivia promises her ride-or-die bestie that this festival weekend will be crush-free—but then she meets 17-year-old Toni Foster. Toni, a Farmland regular since childhood, is returning for the first time since the untimely death of her tour manager father eight months prior. A week from reluctantly starting her freshman year at Indiana University, Toni has come to Farmland to find her real purpose and rediscover the music she lost when her dad died, but what she finds is Olivia. Johnson’s strengths are on full display in snappy dialogue that sings, heart-stopping romance, and realistically flawed Black teen characters learning from their mistakes, one by one. Underlying these strengths are the looming specters of revenge porn and fatal gun violence. Here, Johnson pens a love letter to the healing power of music, enduring friendship, summertime love stories, and hard-won resilience. Ages 14–up. Agent: Sarah Landis, Sterling Lord Literistic. (July)
From the Publisher
Praise for Leah Johnson:
"Leah Johnson is a star; her writing is joyful, funny, and heartfelt. I can't wait to read every single book she writes." — Jasmine Guillory, bestselling author of The Proposal
Praise for Rise to the Sun:
"Rise to the Sun is a sweet, funny, and effervescent gem of a book." — Nicola Yoon, author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers The Sun is Also a Star and Everything, Everything
* "Johnson's strengths are on full display in snappy dialogue that sings, heart-stopping romance, and realistically flawed Black teen characters learning from their mistakes, one by one . . . Johnson pens a love letter to the healing power of music, enduring friendship, summertime love stories, and hard-won resilience." — Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Rise to the Sun is a novel that will show Black girls just how brightly they can shine, and that love, like music, is a True Thing." — Ashley Woodfolk, author of The Beauty that Remains and When You Were Everything
"Leah Johnson seamlessly harmonizes fear with hope, tragedy with healing, and betrayal wtih redemption. This book is an anthem for every queer Black teen who's ever been told they're underserving of their happy ending." — Julian Winters, award-winning author of Running with Lions
"A solid sophomore novel celebrating love that begs for a soundtrack." — Kirkus Reviews
Praise for You Should See Me in a Crown:
A Reese's Book Club YA Pick
A Stonewall Honor Book
A Junior Library Guild Selection
A Well-Read Black Girl June Book Club YA Book Pick
* "Pitch perfect romcom...The queer prom romance you didn't know you needed." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Johnson's pacing is perfect as the story unwinds at dizzying speed...Readers will fall in love with this refreshing book that celebrates the beauty of individuality." — School Library Journal
"Johnson puts a fresh spin on this novel with an unlikely romance, heartwarming friendships, and the tension of being Black, poor, and queer in a small town. A feel-good title for sure." — Booklist
"Filled with humor, heart, and swoon-worthy romance." — Kristina Forest, author of I Wanna Be Where You Are
"A love story worthy of a crown." — Mason Deaver, author of I Wish You All the Best
"With characters I adore and a romance that brought tears to my eyes, You Should See Me in a Crown absolutely stole my heart." — Kacen Callender, author of This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story and Felix Ever After
"You know when a book is like the ideal friend? You Should See Me in a Crown is that kind of book. Juicy, sharp, romantic, big-hearted, real. I loved it." — Anna Godbersen, author of the New York Times bestselling Luxe series
"You Should See Me in a Crown is a powerful, absolutely relatable story that reminds Black, queer girls they have the power to do anything they want." — Camryn Garrett, author of Full Disclosure
"With a refreshing voice and an unforgettable main character, Leah Johnson has written a stunning debut. Liz Lighty is smart and hilarious." — Sabina Khan, author of The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali
JUNE 2021 - AudioFile
Alternating narrators tell the story of two Black teens who meet at the Farmland Music and Arts Festival. Sixteen-year-old Olivia has become an outcast at school after a revenge porn incident with her popular ex-boyfriend. Lexi Underwood’s narration highlights Olivia’s feelings of vulnerability and betrayal. Impulsive and prone to falling in love fast, she tries to avoid her old patterns when she meets 17-year-old Toni. Because Toni’s father has recently died, she’s afraid of being close to anyone again. Alaska Jackson highlights Toni’s prickly aloofness, which fades as the teens fall in love. Both narrators capture the tone of teenagers getting to know each other while grappling with past mistakes. S.C. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2021-05-11
Queer Black girls fall in love at a summer music festival.
When dating the top basketball recruit in Indiana turns disastrous, ruining her socially, emotionally, and in her mother’s eyes, perpetually in love 16-year-old Olivia Brooks begs her best friend, Imani Garrett, to take a summer road trip to the Farmland Arts and Music Festival in Georgia. Imani agrees on one condition: Olivia cannot hook up with anyone on the trip. Meanwhile, Toni Jackson is heading to Farmland for the first time without her musician-turned-roadie dad, who was killed 8 months ago. Joined by her best friend, Peter Menon (whose surname cues him as Indian), Toni is trying to figure her life out—college or something else? She believes that if she performs in the festival’s Golden Apple amateur competition, the truth will become clear. The four meet in Georgia, and when all the solo slots in the competition are full, Toni and Olivia agree to enter as a duo and help each other with their individual quests—Toni’s to perform on stage, Olivia’s to be distracted from the upcoming judicial hearing over violating behavior by her ex-boyfriend and to win the prize of a much-needed car. Although Imani and Peter feel more like devices than well-developed characters with substantial relationships to the protagonists, the exploration of Olivia’s tendency to adapt to others’ expectations of her is wonderfully nuanced, and her relationship with Toni is delightfully swoon-y.
A solid sophomore novel celebrating love that begs for a soundtrack. (Fiction. 14-18)
