Chinese American Derrick explores his queer identity by competing in a small-town beauty pageant where he shares his new love of drag with his family and friends.
Better Nate Than Ever meets Dumplin in this charming, poignant debut by Kyle Casey Chu, aka Panda Dulce, a founding queen of Drag Story Hour.
After making the buzzer-beating shot at the Georgia basketball state championships, Derrick Chan becomes the star of Bayard Middle School, and Derricks single dad could not be prouder. But there are parts of Derrick that no one knows about, like the toenail polish he wears under his basketball sneakers, his secret lip-sync performances in the bathroom mirror, and the feelings hes developing for his best friend and teammate, JJ.
As the school year comes to a close, Derricks dad takes an out-of-town job and ships Derrick off to spend the summer with his estranged, eccentric grandmother, Claudia. Soon, Claudia introduces Derrick to the world of small-town southern beauty pageants, and Derrick suddenly feels hes found where he belongs. But when the opportunity arises to compete in the town pageant, Derrick is forced to decide just how much of himself hes ready to show the world.
Can he learn to love and accept the most unique parts of himself? And what will happen if otherslike his father and JJcant do the same?
