Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens--"The only thing about bliss is that it's sometimes accompanied by ignorance"

Title: Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens

Author: Tanya Boteju


LGBTQ+ Representation: Lesbians, gay, drag queens, trans, gender non-binary, queer, questioning.


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Seventeen-year-old Nima, is bored with small-town life in Bridgeton; plus, she's dealing with her mother abruptly leaving the family and a crush on her straight best friend. When Nima enters the mysterious "artsy" tent at the local festival, she befriends a drag queen and becomes a part of the drag scene in the neighboring town. Will Nima find love, overcome her awkwardness, keep her friends, and come to terms with her mother's decisions?


What I think (in 250 words or fewer):  Based on the cover, I expected a light-hearted, maybe silly, romp through drag culture, but this was definitely not the case with this book. However, even though it is not at all what I thought it would be, it's worth reading.

Middle School's a Drag--"It makes perfect sense in my heart. I just wish it did in my head."

Title: Middle School's a Drag, You'd Better Werk!

Author: Greg Howard


LGBTQ+ Representation: At least three characters, including the narrator, are gay. A supporting character has two moms.


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Seventh grader Mikey Pruitt is determined to start a business that will make him successful. Mikey decides to become a talent agent when Julian hires Mikey to promote his (Julian's) drag queen persona: Coco Caliente. Soon, Mikey represents a group of students preparing for the middle school talent show and is becoming more confident about being openly gay at school; maybe he'll even be able to talk to cute Colton without blushing!


What I think (in 250 words or fewer): This book is SO ADORABLE and is just what I needed at the start of a stressful week. I even made my kids play a few more minutes at the park (pre-quarantine) so I could find out the outcome of the talent show. And then I read the ending before we even drove home, while we were stopped in the Arby's drive-thru waiting for our food.

I embarrass my children.

"You didn't think this was the end of the story, did you?"--Books that need sequels

Top 10 Most-Wished-For Sequels

I just bought a long-awaited sequel today, I have another one on order, and I literally squealed with excitement when this one was announced! (And if this one ever becomes a reality, I will be so, SO overjoyed). Ooh, and I almost forgot about this upcoming one!

Clearly, I enjoy a good sequel, so let's ignore the 20 or so books in my to-be-read pile and the 10 in my I've-read-but-still-need-to-review pile and talk about the books that need sequels. Sometimes, I am just so in love with the characters, universe, and/or plot that I need MORE.

I need to know what happens next for these beloved people whose lives I've shared through the pages of their stories. I would camp outside of a bookstore to buy these sequels, like us older people had to do for concert tickets in the pre-Internet dark ages.

In fact, most of these books had me have immediately visiting Archive of Our Own to see if there are any fanfictions about these books, and if there are, I will link to the pages.

Uma said it best.



In alphabetical order, here are my top 10 most-wished-for sequels:

Like a Love Story--"Life was once sepia toned, one color, bland. Now it is a rainbow world of excitement and anticipation."

Title: Like a Love Story

Author: Abdi Nazemian


LGBTQ+ Representation: Several characters are gay.


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): In 1989 New York City, Art is young, out, and proud, and protests with ACT UP to get the government to takes the AIDS crisis seriously. Reza just moved to New York, and he is shy and terrified of being outed. Judy, whose Uncle Stephen is dying of AIDS, dreams of being a fashion designer. Judy begins dating Reza, and her and Art's friendship suffers when Reza and Art fall for each other.


What I think: When I read The Porcupine of Truth, it opened up my eyes about how clueless of a child I was during the late 80s/early 90s AIDS crisis (obviously, the crisis wasn't limited to those years, but those were the years I learned about AIDS). Like a Love Story is now tied with Porcupine for my favorite AIDS-related YA book, and it also takes place during those childhood years of mine.

Death Prefers Blondes--"Drag wasn't a disguise or an illusion; it was armor"

Title: Death Prefers Blondes

Author: Caleb Roehrig


LGBTQ+ Representation: Main character is bisexual and supporting characters are gay.


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Teenage socialite Margo Manning and her four friends have nighttime secret identities: jewel-heisting drag queens.  Margo donates her proceeds to various charities, while her friends pay off their own tuition help their families. But then Margo catches the attention of a more powerful villain, putting her own family and friends at risk. Do they have the skills to survive their most dangerous job yet?


What I think (in 250 words or fewer): I'm not a fan of the "spy action" genre: James Bond, Mission Impossible, etc. (except the original Ocean's 11).

I am a fan of drag queens, camp, and Julie Newmar's catsuit, and was excited about this book, but when it started with a heist, I didn't get hooked as fast as I did with Roehrig's other books, and Death Prefers Blondes landed in the TBR pile.


However, I should have read it sooner--it was FABULOUS!

What was Stonewall? and The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets."On that hot summer night, to the cops' surprise, the people at Stonewall fought back."And they fought back hard."

Titles: What was Stonewall? and The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets

Authors: Nico Medina and Gayle E. Pitman


LGBTQ+ Representation: Both books describe the Stonewall riots and the Pride movement, so all the letters are represented.


What they're about (in 75 words or fewer): What was Stonewall? begins with a glossary of LGBTQ+ terms, gives a brief history of the gay rights movement prior to the Stonewall riots, describes the uprising at Stonewall, and explains major obstacles and successes of the LGBTQ+ rights movement. The Stonewall Riots provides a more detailed version of the events, told through 50 primary documents, photographs, artifacts, and eyewitness testimonies. Gay rights activists are introduced in both books.


What I think: I wanted to read these books because I wanted to see how the riots were explained to children (ages 6-14, approximately) but also because I knew only a few facts about the Stonewall riots, namely:

• They occurred in June of 1969
• Marsha P. Johnson "threw the first brick" 
• No one died (!)
• Drag queens protested the cops in the form of a Radio City Rockettes-style kick line
• The protests lead to the first Pride March in NYC

Dumplin' and Puddin'--"All of the best things in my life have started with a Dolly Parton song"

Titles: Dumplin' and Puddin'

Author: Julie Murphy


LGBTQ+ Representation: Minor characters are drag queens in m/m relationship. Supporting character is a lesbian; another supporting character comes out as asexual.

What each book is about (in 75 words or fewer):

Dumplin'--Willowdean has always felt confident in her plus-size body but experiences some insecurity when the cute private school jock, Bo, becomes attracted to her. Will can't understand why Bo likes her. In order to regain her confidence, Will (and a group of other girls) decides to enter the Miss Clover City beauty pageant, which is run by her former-beauty-queen mother. Will is determined to prove that beauty comes in all sizes.

Puddin'--In order to please her parents, Millie goes to fat camp every summer. But this summer, she is determined to stick up for herself and attend journalism camp instead. Meanwhile, Callie is the mean-girl dance team member, next in line for captain, with the hot boyfriend. When Millie and Callie end up having to work together at Millie's uncle's gym, they form a surprising friendship.


What I think: I decided to review these books together for a couple of reasons. First of all, they are companion novels, written by the fabulous Julie Murphy. Each book can stand alone, but many of the same characters appear in both stories. Second, many of the same topics and themes are addressed in both stories making them easy to write about together. Finally, Dumplin' the movie premiered on Netflix months ago. I still haven't seen it since I have no one who is willing to loan me their Netflix password 😉, but I have obviously read the book. Everyone on my Facebook and Twitter who raved about the movie got this reply from me:

Dumplin' is a great YA book; I highly recommend it. The companion book, Puddin,' is EVEN BETTER than Dumplin.' Seriously, read them both.