Teagan is ready to crush it this weekend. That’s what brought her to this hotel in Florida. She’s been preparing, she’s ready, and it’s her year. That $25,000 scholarship that comes to the winner of the Miss Cosmic Teen USA pageant is as good as in her bank account. She is Miss Virginia, and she is there to compete. But when she shows up at the hotel, she realizes that there is more than just the Miss Cosmic Teen USA pageant going on. There is also a convention for lovers of The Great Game, a modern-day Sherlock Holmes remake that is her absolute favorite show. Teagan wants to join in with the nerdy con fun, but she has to stay focused to win that scholarship.
Kaylee has been waiting for this convention for so long. No only is it a chance to meet some of their online friends in real life, it’s also a chance for them to talk about their fanfic and even compete to get a story into a Sherlock Holmes anthology that’s going to be published. But really, they has an agenda for the weekend. On the to-do list is three things: to ask someone to use they/them pronouns instead of feminine pronouns, to dress and cosplay in a gender-comfortable way, and to kiss a girl for the first time. Kaylee isn’t comfortable with any of that in her school, or in the town they live in, in North Carolina. But here they can be whoever they want to be.
Teagen gets through her first day of the pageant with ease. She’s been in pageants for years, so she’s become comfortable with the runway walk in her carefully chosen outfits. And she rocked her interview, talking about how she helps kids with art therapy, how finding art helped her when her mother died. She is confident, well-spoken, and hits all the points that she knows the judges will be listening for. Her pageant coach, Rhonda, will be so proud. But after a long day of competing, she’s wanting to blow off some steam. She saw that The Great Game con has some karaoke going on, and she just wants to be in the crowd, hanging out with fellow nerds, so she sneaks out of the hotel room, so the chaperones and pageant moms don’t see her out.
Kaylee has been sitting in their hotel room with their friends, enjoying the evening. Their friends want to go to karaoke. Kaylee’s first instinct is to stay in the room and work on her their fiction, and hide from their list of things they want to try out this weekend. But their friends encourage Kaylee to get out of the room and go to karaoke, to blow off some steam and hang out with their people. Kaylee agrees, and it’s there that they bump into Teagan. Literally. And when Teagan asks them to dance, Kaylee says yes, and it doesn’t take long for them to feel like they definitely want to kiss a girl, specifically, this girl.
After dancing to a couple of songs, Teagan and Kaylee head over to a quiet room where they can talk. Teagan finds a coloring sheet and gets lots in her art while Kaylee finds a loose-leaf tea bar and puts together some of their favorite combinations. As they talk and get to know each other, they find that they have a lot in common. Keylee writes some of Teagan’s favorite fanfic, and Teagan pulls up her Etsy store on her phone, showing off her hand-painted clothes and accessories, which Kaylee loves.
But on their way back to their respective hotel rooms, the new friends are almost seen by Miss North Carolina, Madison. She is one of Teagan’s competitors in the pageant, but she’s one of the most cutthroat girls in the pageant, so Teagan doesn’t want Madison to see her because she would definitely rat her out to the chaperones. But Kaylee freezes up too when they see Madison. Madison goes to their school and bullies them mercilessly. If Madison were to find out about their fanfic, or about how they are exploring their gender identity and sexual identity this weekend, Kaylee would never hear the end of it when she goes home.
Now that Teagan and Kaylee have found each other, they want to keep hanging out together. But will Teagan’s pageant and Kaylee’s insecurities get in the way of their new relationship, not to mention Miss North Carolina? Or will they be able to find ways to express themselves, their truest selves, and maybe even find love during this crazy weekend in Florida?
The One True Me and You is a book filled with acceptance and compassion for anyone who doesn’t fit in the usual categories. It’s an ideal read for nerds or LGBTQ+ individuals who are wanting to find their people or who want to celebrate finding their own place. Author Remi K. England draws from her own experiences as a teenager, and it shows in the depth of emotion that comes through these pages. The struggles of Kaylee and Teagan can be felt through these pages, and you just want to keep reading to make sure things turn out okay in the end.
I thought this was a really beautifully told love story. I’ll be honest—the pageant storyline had me questioning whether this was the right book for me. But the pageant girls are warm and supportive, and there is a strong emphasis on the charity work and the scholarship opportunities. There is Miss North Carolina, who is clearly a mean girl, but the other contestants are interesting young women, and I learned a little something about my own judgmental attitudes. The One True Me and You is a really exceptional book about growing up, finding your own voice, and creating a space for yourself and your people where you can be your best self. Loved it!
Egalleys for The One True Me and You were provided by Wednesday Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.
