The beauty of us - farzana doctor

September 1984, Thornton College private school.

After 15-year-old Zahabiyas father remarries, she cant wait to leave home and convinces him to send her away to boarding school.

But will she fit in? She joins a clique of smart students but isnt sure if she measures up or how to read the mixed messages from a guy shes crushing on.

Seventeen-year-old Leesa has been at Thornton since middle school after her parents messy divorce.

Shes been climbing the schools social ladder with equal measures of meanness and manipulation.

Shes also guarding a big secret that she has to work overtime to keep from her friends.

Fresh out of university, this is Nahlas first real teaching job, and shes drowning.

She has her distractions though: the flirty art teacher and a cryptic notebook left behind by her deceased predecessor, Mademoiselle Leblanc.

Zahabiya and her friends -- all racialized girls and victims of Leesas bullying -- uncover Leesas secret.

But can they help Leesa? Nahla, too, is embroiled in her own mystery, assisted by Mademoiselle Leblancs ghost.

Each is indelibly changed by what they learn.

Masterfully crafted, The Beauty of Us is a gripping novel about surviving hardship, the power of friendship, and growing up.