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  • Juana Fanta Needs a Hero by Kyle Casey Chu book cover
  • Juana Fanta Needs a Hero by Kyle Casey Chu book cover
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Juana Fanta Needs a Hero

by Kyle Casey Chu

A weekend where basketball and drag collide

$17.09 USD
$28.49 USD $17.09 USD
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AlbakiReads Editorial

A weekend where basketball and drag collide

Derrick Chan is balancing a high-stakes basketball tournament and a secret plan to meet Juana Fanta, his drag idol, at a Comic Con in the same hotel. When Juana disappears, Derrick and his childhood best friend, JJ, join forces to find her. The search unfolds alongside Derrick’s growing feelings for JJ and his private exploration of his queer identity and love of drag. The premise brings self-reliance and belonging into a story about competing pressures: a possible basketball scholarship, friendship, first love, and the question of where Derrick can feel fully celebrated. It is a companion to *The Queen Bees of Tybee County*.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Young readers interested in basketball stories and tournament competition.
  • Readers drawn to queer identity, drag, friendship, and first love in juvenile fiction.
  • Readers who enjoy mysteries involving a missing performer.

Themes

Self-esteem and self-relianceQueer identity and belongingFriendship and first loveBasketball and ambitionDrag performance

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

An eighth grade basketball star must solve the mystery of his drag idol's disappearance--while navigating first love and a looming future--in this sparkling companion to The Queen Bees of Tybee County.

Derrick Chan is shooting for a once-in-a-lifetime high-school basketball scholarship with his childhood best friend, JJ, by his side. But Derrick's life is about more than just free throws since embracing his queer identity and love for drag (even if he's not ready to share either with the whole world quite yet)!

Right now, he's just trying to take his dad's advice: don't sweat the small stuff.
This weekend, however, Derrick's two worlds are colliding in a big way. At a career-defining basketball tournament, where scouts from elite schools are watching his every move, Derrick secretly plans to meet his drag idol, the magnificent Juana Fanta, at the Comic Con held in the very same hotel.

As the stakes skyrocket, team tensions bubble to the surface, including Derrick's own growing feelings for JJ. But when Juana Fanta disappears from the con, Derrick and JJ must team up to find her before she misses her show-stopping live performance.

Can Derrick find a community that celebrates slam dunks on the court and dazzling drag in the spotlight? Can he really save Juana Fanta's future--and his own--in one weekend?

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