Posted by Chu, Kyle Casey. The Queen Bees of Tybee County. Quill Tree Books, 2025. 320p. ISBN: 9780063326958. $19.99. MS, AT ****
My first Drag Queen storytime opened my eyes to the importance of having inclusive, queer, and inspiring role models visible for kids, counteracting the many harmful, inaccurate, and fearmongering cultural stereotypes. When I heard one of the Drag Queen Story Hour founders, Kyle Casey Chu (also known as Panda Dulce) had a book coming out, I jumped at the chance to read it.
Chu’s debut novel follows Derrick Chan, a small town seventh grade championship basketball player living with his dad several years after his mom died. Derrick’s summer takes an unexpected turn when his dad can no longer afford his basketball camp and sends him to stay in an even smaller town with his offbeat grandmother, Claudia for the summer. Derrick is apprehensive and maybe a little excited about his change of summer plans…and these feelings he can’t quite name yet.
Derrick’s summer turns into a scary, but exciting journey into self-discovery as he meets new friends in town and begins to uncover and embody his true self. Derrick is Chinese American queer main character, a depiction I haven’t seen much in middle grade fiction. His rural small town friends are White presenting, though diverse in their expressions of gender and sexuality. I loved how Chu’s story covered complex topics (gender identity, death of a parent, and racism and homophobia in a small town) while keeping the story joyful and entertaining. While plot points sometimes felt a little too easily resolved, the book beautifully depicts building understanding, acceptance, and love.
To say we need LGBTQIA+ stories now in 2025 more than ever is a massive understatement and Chu’s fun, highly topical, enjoyable novel is perfect for middle school or upper elementary shelves.
–Megan Keane, local librarian
Tags: Diverse, Death of a Parent, LGBTQ+, Realistic, Racism, Homophobia
Bay Area Young Adult Librarians 