C. B. Lee

{{Infobox writer

| nationality = American

| image = C. B. Lee by Gage Skidmore.jpg

| caption = Lee in 2025

| genre = Young adult fiction

| notableworks = Not Your Sidekick

Seven Tears at High Tide

| years_active = 2015-present

| website = {{URL|cb-lee.com}}

| language = English

| awards = Rainbow Award 2015

}}C. B. Lee is an American author of young adult literature based in Los Angeles, California.{{Cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/C.B.-Lee/e/B0756BGM6M|title=C.B. Lee|website=www.amazon.com|access-date=2020-04-30}} They are best known for their Sidekick Squad series, which follows a quartet of teenagers in a near future world of superheroes and supervillains.

Profile

Lee's parents are immigrants from Vietnam and China.{{Cite news|url=https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/teen/11-authors-discuss-dealing-with-depression-being-mixed-race-and-more-on-septembers-ya-open-mic/|title=11 Authors Discuss Dealing with Depression, Being Mixed Race, and More on September's YA Open Mic|date=2016-09-01|work=The B&N Teen Blog|access-date=2018-11-26|language=en-US}} Lee is bisexual{{Cite web|url=http://www.gayya.org/2016/09/interview-c-b-lee-rachel-davidson-leigh/|title=Interview: C.B. Lee & Rachel Davidson Leigh – YA Pride|website=www.gayya.org|date=23 September 2016|language=en-US|access-date=2018-11-26}} and open about their struggles with mental illness.{{Cite web|url=http://diversityinya.tumblr.com/post/150541308470/redefining-super|title=Redefining Super|website=Diversity in YA|language=en|access-date=2018-11-26}} They have been featured in Teen Vogue, Hypable, and Wired Magazine for their novels.{{Cite web|title=About the Author|url=https://cb-lee.com/about/|date=2015-11-19|website=CB Lee|language=en|access-date=2020-04-30}} Lee is represented by Thao Le of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.

Selected works

Their debut young adult novel, Seven Tears at High Tide, about a boy who gets rescued and falls for a selkie, was published by Duet Books in 2015. It won the 2016 Rainbow Award for Bisexual Fantasy & Fantasy Romance in 2016{{Cite web|url=http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2016.html|title=2016 Rainbow Awards|website=www.elisarolle.com|access-date=2018-11-26}} and was a finalist for the 2016 Bisexual Book Award in the category Young Adult and Speculative Fiction.{{Cite web |title=Finalists & Winners |url=http://www.biwriters.org/finalists-winners/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180430055944/http://www.biwriters.org/finalists-winners/ |archive-date=2018-04-30 |access-date=2018-11-26 |website=The Bi Writers Association |language=en}}

The first book in the Sidekick Squad series, Not Your Sidekick, was published by Duet Books in 2016.{{Cite news|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-945053-03-0|title=Children's Book Review: Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee. Duet, $16.99 trade paper (262p) ISBN 978-1-945053-03-0|work=PublishersWeekly.com|access-date=2018-11-26|language=en}} It tells the story of Jess, a bisexual teen without superpowers living in a world where superpowers are normal, who has to compete with her town's infamous supervillain for her dream internship and deal with her crush on her friend Abby.{{Cite news|url=https://www.slj.com/;?detailStory=whats-new-in-lgbtqia-ya-september-and-october-2016|title=What's New in LGBTQIA+ YA September and October 2016|work=School Library Journal|access-date=2018-11-26}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/teen/kick-off-bisexual-awareness-week-12-2016-ya-books/|title=Kick off Bisexual Awareness Week with 12 2016 YA Books|date=2016-09-19|work=The B&N Teen Blog|access-date=2018-11-26|language=en-US}} Not Your Sidekick was a finalist for the 2017 Lambda Literary Award in the category LGBTQ Children's/Young Adult{{Cite news|url=https://www.lambdaliterary.org/features/news/03/14/29th-annual-lambda-literary-award-finalists-announced/|title=29th Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists Announced|last=Team|first=Edit|date=2017-03-14|work=Lambda Literary|access-date=2018-11-26|language=en-US}} and a finalist for the 2017 Bisexual Book Award in Speculative Fiction. The second book, Not Your Villain, following the protagonists from the first novel who have now joined a resistance movement, was published by Duet Books in 2017.{{Cite news|url=https://www.lambdaliterary.org/reviews/ya/11/16/not-your-villain-by-c-b-lee/|title='Not Your Villain' by C.B. Lee|last=Tesoro|first=Christina|date=2017-11-16|work=Lambda Literary|access-date=2018-11-26|language=en-US}} A third book, Not Your Backup, was published in 2019. Lee cites the X-Men and wanting to write a story incorporating identity and alienation as inspiration for writing the series.{{Cite news|url=https://www.wired.com/2016/09/best-superheroes-right-now-arent-screens-theyre-books/|title=The Best Superheroes Right Now Aren't on Screens. They're in Books|magazine=WIRED|access-date=2018-11-26|language=en-US}}

Lee also contributed a short story to Saundra Mitchell's Out Now: Queer We Go Again!, published by Inkyard Press in 2020.{{Cite news|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/78146-rights-report-week-of-september-24-2018.html|title=Rights Report: Week of September 24, 2018|work=PublishersWeekly.com|access-date=2018-11-26|language=en}}

Selected bibliography

=Young Adult series=

==Sidekick Squad==

Not Your Sidekick (Duet Books, 2016, {{ISBN|978-1-945053-03-0}}){{Cite web |last=Adler |first=Dahlia |date=2020-09-08 |title=13 Spectacular Young Adult Books From Independent Publishers |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/dahliaadler/young-adult-from-independent-publishers |access-date=2024-10-25 |website=BuzzFeed News |language=en}}
Not Your Villain (Duet Books, 2017){{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Alex |date=2024-09-16 |title=Backlist Bonanaza: 5 Underrated YA Books for Brat Summer |url=https://reactormag.com/backlist-bonanaza-5-underrated-ya-books-for-brat-summer/ |access-date=2024-10-25 |website=Reactor |language=en-US}}
Not Your Backup (Duet Books, 2019)
Not Your Hero (upcoming as of mid-2025[https://cb-lee.com/2025/01/26/on-rewriting-and-rewriting-and-rewriting/ CB Lee blog post on the writing of the book])

=Stand-alone young adult novels=

Seven Tears at High Tide (Duet Books, 2015)
A Clash of Steel: A Treasure Island Remix (Macmillan, 2021){{Cite web |last=Robinson |first=Brianna |date=2021-08-21 |title=September 2021 New Book Releases: Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and the start of Fall |url=https://www.theyoungfolks.com/books/157636/september-2021-new-book-releases-celebrate-hispanic-heritage-month/ |access-date=2024-10-25 |website=The Young Folks |language=en-US}}

Awards

class="wikitable"

!Year

!Award

!Category

!Work

!Result

!Ref

2016

|Rainbow Awards

|Bisexual Fantasy & Fantasy Romance

|Seven Tears at High Tide

|{{won}}

|Bisexual Book Awards

|Young Adult and Speculative Fiction

|Seven Tears at High Tide

|{{nom}}

2017

|Lambda Literary Awards

|LGBTQ Children's/Young Adult

|Not Your Sidekick

|{{nom}}

|{{Citation |title=Where Your Children Are |date=2019-03-11 |work=Every True Pleasure |pages=181–191 |editor-last=Johns |editor-first=Wayne |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |doi=10.5149/northcarolina/9781469646800.003.0020 |isbn=978-1-4696-4680-0 |s2cid=242533467}}

|Bisexual Book Awards

|Speculative Fiction

|Not Your Sidekick

|{{nom}}