He’s greeted in his new life by an assortment of acquaintances, Liam, who is white and struggling with depression Maddie, a self-sacrificing white cheerleader with a heart of gold and Aarti, his Indian-American love interest who offers connection. His professor mom’s new tenure-track job transplants Norris mid–school year, and his biting wit and sarcasm are exposed through his cataloging of his new world in a field guide–style burn book. Norris Kaplan, the protagonist of Philippe’s debut novel, is a hypersweaty, uber-snarky black, Haitian, French-Canadian pushing to survive life in his new school. Millie’s new friend Lady Sakshi is biracial Indian/white, while everyone else is white.Ī teenage, not-so-lonely loner endures the wilds of high school in Austin, Texas.

The short chapters are interspersed with chatty gossip articles about events as they unfold, and character relationships come across clearly in dialogue that is at turns witty, awkward, and romantic. Can Millie hack it as a princess’s girlfriend? What will Flora’s mother, Queen Clara, say? Millie narrates in the present tense with funny, smart, and sarcastic observations of the posh people around her. During the resulting trudge through the woods, the girls each admit to an attraction to girls (Millie is bi and Flora is gay), and they reach a turning point, starting to fall for each other. During the annual wilderness challenge, Flora sends their camping gear downriver in another scheme to get sent home. Flora repeatedly tries to get kicked out of school, and Millie often finds herself dragged along for the ride. The gorgeous and glamorous Princess Flora of Scotland is rude and condescending, and the two girls can barely co-exist. It’s a dream come true (hello, local rock samples) until Millie’s roommate arrives. Keen geologist Amelia “Millie” Quint is spending her senior year in the Scottish Highlands, at the prestigious Gregorstoun school. A Texas teen enrolls in a Scottish boarding school in this fresh spin on the commoner/royal romance.

Your royal highness book