You Should See Me in a Crown (by Leah Johnson)

I love this book! Our protagonist, Liz, is a young Black lady from Indiana who has social anxiety but needs a scholarship, so decides to run for prom queen.  (An undertaking that is taken to absurd levels of seriousness by her small town.)

She learns a ton about herself along the way, her relationships with friends and former friends evolve, and she falls for another girl running for prom queen. (I enjoyed that “coming out to my family” was a non-issue in this one whereas coming out at school was a problem, a nice twist on the usual formula).

I can nitpick (for example her main prom queen rival is probably a smidge too cartoony; she should definitely not have ever forgiven the betrayal she finds out about towards the end) but otherwise, it’s a great addition to the YA canon.