Your Own Worst Enemy

September 1, 2018
A stoner, a type-A achiever, and a new girl with a secret fight for the class presidency.Stacey Wynn, who is white, is running unopposed for student body president of her California high school--and that's just the way things should be. Her best friend, Brian, who she suspects may be gay, is her campaign adviser, which is working great until his (secret) crush, new student Julia Romero, decides on a whim that she is running too. And for reasons no one can understand, Chinese-American underachiever Tony Guo is also now on the ballot. What should have been a sure thing--in Stacey's mind--is now a true election, and it soon devolves into a game of scheming and back-stabbing. Each candidate hides a troubled home life and strained family relationships, but Julia's struggle is especially central to the election's conflicts; the French-Canadian child of a white mother of Italian descent and a sperm donor, she appears Latinx but her mother has refused to reveal her donor's ethnic heritage. The story begins two weeks before the election, and the hijinks are chronicled by an unintentionally hilarious and earnest student blogger. Discerning readers will appreciate the timely and astute exploration of both the gravity and levity of identity politics and the critique of neoliberal ideals. Sharply observed--but so sharp it may be missed by less woke readers--this is satire at its best. (Fiction. 14-18)

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.