Review: "Queerleaders" by Olivia Cole and Ashley Woodfolk

Queerleaders by Olivia Cole and Ashley Woodfolk
Published May 2026 via Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
★★★★

They're here, they're queer, and they're ready to cheer...whether or not the local stick-up-their-bums crowd has anything to say about it.

This is a delightful take on Bring It On—or, I guess I shouldn't say it's a take on Bring It On; it's more accurate to say that there are plenty of sly nods to the classic (fewer, unfortunately, to But I'm a Cheerleader...but I can't have everything). This is a squad that's out and proud and also good at what they do. And we've come a long way in the last quarter-century(!!), which means that they're a team that has the good sense to be supportive of each other, and not food-shame or body-shame, and skip as much of the mean-girl drama as possible. And now they just need to spin that into a good showing at Nationals...

So it's a lot of fun. There's a conservative media personality who tries to make a stink (I'm reminded of the time the college conservatives brought Ann Coulter to my college, ugh), and I would say she's over the top, but...Ann Coulter. Lots of Big Personalities, but for the most part they manage to be Big Personalities who try to bring out the best in each other. There is of course a romance, and while Kendall and Davie manage to make things a little more angsty than strictly necessary (they're teenagers; it's allowed), I genuinely liked both main characters (and the side characters), which made them easy to cheer root for.

One quibble: I found it hard to believe that a team that is regularly a contender at Nationals—which are, let's be honest, a big deal—would struggle so much to find qualified, or even adequate, new cheerleaders. Kendall and her sister swoop in at just the right time...and, to be fair, the way things play out here makes sense in the context of Bring It On. But I honestly think that a team good enough to contend (and to know that they'll contend) at Nationals would have hopefuls moving into the school district, or driving/flying in to try out with a parental pledge that they'll move if they get on the team (because this is a thing in sports), or frankly the team having the ability to recruit from other schools or at least have a middle-school-to-high-school cheer pipeline. And probably a JV squad, for that matter. Have you seen the stuff top competitive cheerleaders do? They are not falling into those athletic feats by chance (or, for that matter, changing things at the last minute). It's not a huge deal (again: Bring It On context), but just something that made me think.

And now if you'll excuse me, I have to go convince my very disinterested partner that it is time to watch Bring It On, and also But I'm a Cheerleader...

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.