A high schooler boldly decides to go au naturel after her cousin is ridiculed for her body hair—and thus begins an unexpected journey of self-doubt, self-love, and the realization that sometimes your harshest judge is yourself.

“Unflinchingly honest, real, and raw in its examination of body image. Every hairy brown girl will see a reflection of their lives in its page.”—Adiba Jaigirdar, author of Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating

“Filled with heart, humor, and a swoon-worthy academic rivals-to-lovers romance of my dreams, Jesmeen Kaur Deo proves self-worth isn’t up for debate.”—Jessica Parra, author of Rubi Ramos’ Recipe for Success

It’s about to get hairy . . .

When TJ Powar—a pretty, popular debater—and her cousin Simran become the subject of a meme, with TJ being the “expectation” of dating an Indian girl and her Sikh cousin who doesn’t remove her body hair being the “reality,” TJ decides to take a stand.

She ditches her razors, cancels her waxing appointments, and sets a debate resolution that she will go all in to defend: “This House Believes That TJ Powar can be her hairy self, and still be beautiful.” Only, as she sets about proving her point, she starts to seriously doubt anyone could care about her just the way she is—even when the infuriating boy from a rival debate team seems determined to prove otherwise.

As her carefully crafted sense of self begins to crumble, TJ realizes that winning this debate may cost her far more than the space between her eyebrows. And that the hardest judge to convince of her arguments might just be herself.