October 23 2025, 08:15 
Rupaul’s Drag Race star Kim Chi is addicted to new adventures. When she isn’t performing on some of the largest drag stages in the world, she’s either launching a cosmetics line, releasing her own cookbook, or creating a limited-edition THC gummy.
But her latest venture is a bit different from the rest: A middle-grade novel celebrating drag, friendship, art, and the life-changing magic of libraries.
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Written in collaboration with YA writer Stephan Lee, Donutella Hamachi and the Library Avengers is an homage to Kim Chi’s own childhood spent engulfed in books inside her local library. The book follows 12-year-old Jae Han, a Korean immigrant who loves spending time at the library working on his original comic about the drag superhero Donutella Hamachi. The library is also where he meets other kids who don’t fit in elsewhere.
But Jae Han’s safe space is threatened when the mayor announces plans to tear down the library and replace it with a shopping mall parking lot. And so, it’s up to him, his friends, and, of course, Donutella to do something about it.
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Kim Chi spoke with LGBTQ Nation about the project.
LGBTQ Nation: Why did you decide to write for this specific age group?
Kim Chi: When I was 12 or 13, our family moved back from Korea to the States, and I had to relearn English all over again. I didn’t have any friends here in the States, and our family was also poor so couldn’t send me to summer camp or anything like that. So every day, I’d go to the public library and spend all day checking out media and reading books.
Also, the summer library had a program where if I read five books, I got a free voucher for a bagel and cream cheese from a bagel shop nearby. So I’d read as much as possible to feed myself.
So by writing for this age group, I was hoping to share some of the joys of reading.
So there’s a lot of you in the story?
Yes. It is fictional, but it is based on me, and the events and the characters that are in the book are inspired by people in my real life.
A book on the importance of libraries is especially poignant at a time when the institutions are under attack for allowing children to read books about diverse populations. Your book does depict a library under attack, but for different reasons. Why did you decide to avoid the book ban topic and find your own creative reason that the library in the book was in jeopardy?
I wanted to address the important issues, but also, I didn’t want to make it too political. So it touches on political issues, but also, it’s a tough time to be dealing with a novel that deals with a lot of political themes. I tried to do it very sensitively… There’s a lot of themes that deal with being an immigrant and being queer, but also the last thing we want is some conservative group to get a hold of this book and then use it as a martyr to their political motives.
As you said, it’s a complicated time to release a book like this, when drag queens like Little Miss Hot Mess are being called out on CSPAN by the likes of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-FL) if they show any interest in working with children at all. Did you have any hesitation in releasing this book? Were you scared?
As nerve-wracking as it is making stuff like this, it is more important than ever. If people with a platform and those with a voice don’t speak up… then we’ve failed as a whole, as a community. I would always fight for my immigrant community, my queer community, and obviously, I’m not changing the world with this book, but it is a small step, and my love and appreciation for those who feel like voices are needed.
What, to you, is the meaning of a library today?
It’s not just a place where you can rent books. It is a pillar of our community. It is a very important resource and needs to be protected.
You said you read voraciously as a kid. What were some books that either shaped your identity or just helped you feel okay about who you are?
I love the work of Roald Dahl. It’s so imaginative and creative, which is what inspired me to be as creative and outlandish as possible. I love the work of Beverly Cleary because it portrayed the life of American kids that I never personally got to experience.
My childhood is completely different from an average American school kid, and a lot of her work gave me insights into how American kids grow up. That was a world that I never got to experience, that I only got to read about in books.
Did you have a fascination with drag as a kid, the way that Jae Han does in the book?
I’ve always had a strong affinity towards strong female figures and femininity. I didn’t have that much access to the world of drag growing up. I didn’t even know RuPaul until my adult life.
So my drag is basically a love letter to like all things feminine and beautiful. I feel like, had I had access to the world of drag when I was younger, I think maybe I would have been happier at a younger age.
So you’re hoping your book does that for others?
Yeah, so the future generation doesn’t have to live in silence. It’s good to open up your eyes to the world of all things beautiful and queer and art.
What would you say to parents or politicians who say that books like these are a form of indoctrination?
You know, the queer community, there’s no agenda for us. A lot of us just want to mind our own business, survive, exist, and do things we want to do, and most of the time just make art that inspires us. There’s literally no propaganda for us.
And trust me, from my experience, most people, we don’t even want to be around your children.
And this is going to become a series, right?
Hopefully, keeping the fingers crossed.
As a famous lawyer named Natasha Beddingfield once quoted, “The rest is still unwritten.”
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