Picture Us In The Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert

Picture Us in the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this Stonewall Honor Award (first & most enduring award for GLBT books is the Stonewall Book Awards, sponsored by the American Library Association's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table) as part of the 2019 HUB Reading Challenge. I read and loved Kelly Loy Gilbert's first book, Conviction, and like her debut---this 2nd book deals with many issues and themes that still continue to fill my brain. As the narrator, Danny Cheng is flawed, insecure, and a child/teen with VERY secretive parents. The reader knows how much they love their only son, but how they show it...Danny is a gifted artist and I loved the way the author let us see Danny's world and his introspections through his mind's eye. I liked the way the book was set up, I don't want to give away anything but I rooted for Danny as he got a scholarship to RISD, ached for him as he struggled personally and with his art. But through all this drama, Danny has friends like Harry and Regina (though there are tense times, they remain true to one another) and also Danny himself as he tries to figure out just what is going on with his parents and his life after high school. I also liked the Asian American teens, their families, and high school life--totally mesmerizing, yet authentic, and true. There were so many quotes in this book I could not stop putting in the little post-its to mark them. Now I need to put them all in Goodreads quotes- if they are not already in there- so memorable about Danny, loved ones, his art, his friends. This book MUST be read--teens, guidance counselors, parents will all come away with enduring feelings about family, friendship, suicide, adoption, and diversity!

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