The You I See

by Danny Freeman

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Pub Date Jul 12 2022 | Archive Date Jun 30 2022

Atmosphere Press

LGBTQIAP+ | Teens & YA

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Description

What happens when two gay boys meet at a fundamentalist church and talk about tits?

Brandon’s family are long-time members. In fact, his dad is the preacher. Alex’s skeptical parents reluctantly attend after repeated invitations from a colleague of Alex’s father. Alex and Brandon feel an immediate and undeniable attraction to one another, though both of them are confused about their own and each other’s feelings. They soon develop an affectionate, endearing friendship, mostly by balancing out each other’s opposite personalities and quoting their favorite lines from The Princess Bride until they nearly wet themselves. Brandon is loud, impulsive, irreverent, and foul-mouthed. Alex is quiet, thoughtful, shy, and considerably more precocious than Brandon.

With the support of Alex’s unconventional and affirming parents, Alex and Brandon navigate the challenges of being gay teenagers in Houston in the early 1990s. They face obstacles, setbacks, misunderstandings, and outright homophobia but remain resolutely committed to their unique friendship and budding romance.

From beginning to end, The You I See by Danny Freeman is an infectiously funny, relentlessly hopeful, and ultimately life-affirming celebration of friendship and young love in one of its many-hued variations.

What happens when two gay boys meet at a fundamentalist church and talk about tits?

Brandon’s family are long-time members. In fact, his dad is the preacher. Alex’s skeptical parents reluctantly...

A Note From the Publisher

Danny Freeman is a native Texan: born in Dallas and raised in Houston. He is a former elementary school teacher and intervention program coordinator for a large Texas school district. Danny now lives for a living and resides outside the Lone Star State in a happy spot somewhere between his head and his heart. He is busy writing his second novel. If there is an afterlife, he hopes he’ll get assigned to a small cottage between his two favorite couples in the world: Westley and Buttercup, and Alex and Brandon. The You I See is his first novel.

Danny Freeman is a native Texan: born in Dallas and raised in Houston. He is a former elementary school teacher and intervention program coordinator for a large Texas school district. Danny now lives...

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A Note From the Publisher

Danny Freeman is a native Texan: born in Dallas and raised in Houston. He is a former elementary school teacher and intervention program coordinator for a large Texas school district. Danny now lives for a living and resides outside the Lone Star State in a happy spot somewhere between his head and his heart. He is busy writing his second novel. If there is an afterlife, he hopes he’ll get assigned to a small cottage between his two favorite couples in the world: Westley and Buttercup, and Alex and Brandon. The You I See is his first novel.

Advance Praise

"Through Alex’s wise-beyond-his-years voice, Freeman perfectly captures the uncertainty and intensity of a friendship on the verge of a queer romance, and the contradictorily cosmopolitan and conservative Houston is a perfectly rendered setting."

-Kirkus

"Author Danny Freeman presents a timely and engaging novel about young love with its ups and downs through the lives of two gay male teens in his debut novel."

-Feathered Quill

"The You I See is a quiet but essential novel with a profound and fascinating look at the issues of identity, and Danny Freeman explores it with a degree of intelligence and compassion."

-Readers' Favorite

"A life-affirming coming of age story that enhances the nuances of grow- ing up and embracing one's sexuality... a continuously hopeful story of friendship, young love, and the celebration of sexuality."

-Independent Book Review

"The You I See's powerful ability to refute stereotypes on all sides makes for an especially authentic, realistic story of growth. It is highly recommended as a key acquisition for young adult libraries; especially those looking for non-traditional explorations of the subject for LGBTQ collections and discussion groups."

-D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

"Through Alex’s wise-beyond-his-years voice, Freeman perfectly captures the uncertainty and intensity of a friendship on the verge of a queer romance, and the contradictorily cosmopolitan and...