Published: 2022
Series: N/A
Author: Casey McQuiston
Illustrator: N/A
Genres: Romance, LGBT, Young Adult, Queer, Contemporary, Lesbian, Fiction, Mystery, Enemies To Lovers
Audience (Grade Levels): Grades 9-12
Number of Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Goodreads Link: I Kissed Shara Wheeler
Triggers / Content Warnings: Drinking, religious academic pressure, and coming-out anxieties in a conservative environment.
Review By: Heather Kent
Publisher’s Summary:
Chloe Green is so close to winning. After her moms moved her from SoCal to Alabama for high school, she’s spent the past four years dodging gossipy classmates and a puritanical administration at Willowgrove Christian Academy. The thing that’s kept her going: winning valedictorian. Her only rival: prom queen Shara Wheeler, the principal’s perfect progeny.
But a month before graduation, Shara kisses Chloe and vanishes. On a furious hunt for answers, Chloe discovers she’s not the only one Shara kissed. There’s also Smith, Shara’s longtime quarterback sweetheart, and Rory, Shara’s bad boy neighbor with a crush. The three have nothing in common except Shara and the annoyingly cryptic notes she left behind, but together they must untangle Shara’s trail of clues and find her. It’ll be worth it, if Chloe can drag Shara back before graduation to beat her fair-and-square.
Thrown into an unlikely alliance, chasing a ghost through parties, break-ins, puzzles, and secrets revealed on monogrammed stationery, Chloe starts to suspect there might be more to this small town than she thought. And maybe—probably not, but maybe—more to Shara, too. Fierce, funny, and frank, Casey McQuiston’s I Kissed Shara Wheeler is about breaking the rules, getting messy, and finding love in unexpected places.
Review:
The author of this book did an incredible job of addressing some very sensitive issues that many of our teens face today while keeping it light and fun. It is so hard to find your friend group for many of us and this is the story of Chloe who has moved into a very conservative private school. She finds herself in an unexpected group with the mission of finding Shara Wheeler. I love the message of acceptance that this book sends and was laughing all the way until the end.
Classroom & Curricular Connections:
- ELA (English Language Arts): An excellent mentor text for high schoolers studying contemporary mystery plotting, epistolary storytelling devices (notes and texts), and evaluating unreliable character perspectives.
- Social Studies & Civics: Integrates seamlessly into modern sociology or American culture units exploring regional socio-political divides, institutional pressures within private academic systems, and the history of LGBTQ+ community organizing.
- SEL (Social-Emotional Learning): Serves as an exceptional resource for addressing adolescent peer dynamics, toxic academic perfectionism, family communication hurdles, and building genuine empathy across polarized high school cliques.
- Extension Activity / Library Application: Perfect for a high school library choiceboard or media center extension. Librarians can coordinate an “Identity Scavenger Hunt & Media Literacy Workshop.” Inspired by Shara’s trail of clues, students can design a mini-scavenger hunt around the school library using cataloging codes, linking each clue to diverse YA titles that highlight intersectional identities, media literacy, or civil rights history.
- Diversity & Representation: The book models elite standards of diversity, equity, and inclusion by placing multiple queer, lesbian, and gender-nonconforming identities at the focal point of the text. By unpacking the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ youth living inside an unsupportive institutional environment without erasing their joy, humor, or agency, the story provides a vital window and mirror that validates the diversity of the modern student body.
Readalike:
- The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t a Guy at All by Sumiko Arai
- Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
- Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli
- Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms by Crystal Frasier & Oscar O. Jupiter
- Us by Sara Soler & Joamette Gil
- Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills
- I Kissed by Shara Wheeler
