Book Review: I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston

‘I Kissed Shara Wheeler’ was Casey McQuiston’s most recent release, which follows the fallout of the jewel of the school, Shara Wheeler disappearing from Senior Prom just moments before being crowned the Class of 2021’s Prom Queen. Nobody knows where and why she’s vanished but Chloe Green believed she knew why she’d run away. Because, Shara Wheeler kissed her before prom, and as the daughter of the Principal of Willowgrave Christian Academy, Shara shouldn’t have been kissing girls.

Except, Chloe wasn’t the only one Shara kissed, no she shared kisses with her boyfriend, Smith, and her next-door neighbour, Rory, and all three want to know why. Why them?

What starts as a mystery that Chloe is desperate to unravel, alongside her new companions, becomes a refreshing exploration of found family and the lengths that kinship among LGBTQ+ kids can go. Chloe, who is bisexual, is friends with a small group of fellow queer kids at their school in False Beach, but there are more, closeted or otherwise, who want to be seen and heard.

Falling in love with yourself, finding your tribe, embracing your differences, and standing up for what’s right are common themes throughout the story and McQuiston demonstrates a great ability to create close-knit queer friend groups that readers can relate to. I loved reading about how these children grew more confident in their identities, experiment with fashion, with makeup, and are willing to ask questions and accept differences. It demonstrates that the students, despite the strict, conservative rules that dominated their schooling, were willing to stand up for those who needed that support. As demonstrated, when Chloe takes the fall for a friend, for breaking a farcical rule about same-sex relationships in the school, and is snubbed the one thing she wanted most in her senior year, the honour of being the class valedictorian.

I appreciated this story for its ability to show how groups of classmates who otherwise may not have been friends, came together in a brilliant show of defiance. This unity was heart-warming and made me smile. I can’t wait to read more of McQuiston’s work in the future.