Not Your Backup

SIDEKICK SQUAD, BOOK THREE —  Emma Robledo has a few more responsibilities that the usual high school senior, but then again, she and her friends have left school to lead a fractured Resistance movement against a corrupt Heroes League of Heroes. Emma is the only member of a supercharged team without powers, and she isn’t always taken seriously.

Read More “Not Your Backup”

Not Your Villain

SIDEKICK SQUAD, BOOK TWO — Bells Broussard thought he had it made when his superpowers manifested early. Being a shapeshifter is awesome. He can change his hair whenever he wants, and if putting on a binder for the day is too much, he’s got it covered. But that was before he became the country’s most wanted villain.

Read More “Not Your Villain”

Not Your Sidekick

SIDEKICK SQUAD, BOOK ONE — Jess Tran is resigned to a life without superpowers and is merely looking to beef up her college applications when she stumbles upon the perfect (paid!) internship—only it turns out to be for the town’s most heinous supervillain. On the upside, she gets to work with her longtime secret crush, Abby, whom Jess thinks may have a secret of her own…

Read More “Not Your Sidekick”

Seven Tears at High Tide

Kevin Luong walks to the ocean’s edge with a broken heart. Remembering a legend his mother told him, he lets seven tears fall into the sea. “I just want one summer—one summer to be happy and in love.” Instead, he finds himself saving a mysterious boy from the Pacific…a boy who later shows up on his doorstep professing his love.

Read More “Seven Tears at High Tide”

News

The new cover of COFFEESHOP IN AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE has just been released! 

CoffeeshopAU_CBLEE_Cover

Read more…

Lambda Literary Awards: Not Your Sidekick

LammyFinalist_Small_Web_transpSo honored to have Not Your Sidekick named as a Finalist for the 2017 Lambda Literary Awards in the Children’s & Young Adult  genre!

The Lambda Literary Foundation sponsors the Lambda Literary Awards, Emerging LGBTQ+ Voices Writers Retreat, and the annual Lambda Litfest. Lambda Literary believes Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer literature is fundamental to the preservation of our culture, and that LGBTQ lives are affirmed when our stories are written, published and read.

what’s the word

The Sidekick Squad are back and better than ever in Not Your Villain... There’s nothing quite like the found-family narrative, nor the team up against a corrupt government, and the unrelenting optimism and power of a group of largely queer-identifying teens.

Hypable

Not Your Sidekick is a smooth read with characters who hit the likeable zone between being overly self-involved and unrealistically altruistic….A large part of the story deals with her expectations about what it means to be ordinary and what it means to be extraordinary. This is a theme that will speak strongly to the current generation.

Queer SciFi

Lee offers up a fast-paced, engaging tale set in a quasi-dystopian 22nd-century America where the line between hero and villain is often blurred. With a diverse cast of characters, both in terms of sexuality and ethnic background, and a wholly adorable romance for Jess, it’s a lively exploration of morality in a superpowered age.

Publishers Weekly

This is a light romp of a middle grade adventure/romance, but the real strength is in its matter-of-fact representation of LGBTQ and first-generation American identities. While the meanings of these identities are explored, they are not the focus of the book and are simply part of the character- and world-building. Coming out has already happened, friendships based on immigrant identity are complicated, and there are many primary and secondary characters who fall into these categories so that no single character has to stand for everyone.

School Library Journal

C. B. Lee’s Not Your Backup perfectly weaves together superhero fun and queer self-discovery in a compelling story that made my aroace heart sing. I loved it from the first to the last page.

Claudie Arseneault, author of Baker Thief