Pub Date: February 4, 2025
Dewey: 741.5973
LCCN: 2024942230
Lexile Code: 0000
Features: Illustrated, Price on Product
Target Age Group: 08 to 12
Physical Info: 0.80" H x 7.90" L x 5.50" W ( 1.00 lbs) 272 pages
BISAC Categories:
Juvenile Fiction | Comics and Graphic Novels | General | Family | Marriage and Divorce | Asian American and Pacific Islander | Art | Social Themes | Emotions and Feelings | SelfEsteem and SelfReliance | Parents | Places | Asia
Description: An autobiographical story of a young Taiwanese American artist struggling to find her voice to save what matters most.
Brief description:
Cindy Chang was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and holds degrees in education and computer science. She works as a digital product designer in addition to writing and illustrating children's books. How to Draw a Secret is her first book.
Review Quotes:
"How to Draw a Secret is deeply a beautiful book: beautiful to look at, and especially beautiful because of the total honesty in Cindy's confusion, determination, and love for her flawed family." - --Linda Sue Park, Newbery Medalist and bestselling author of A Long Walk to Water
"Phenomenal and powerful. No family is perfect, but How to Draw a Secret is a truly perfect read. I wish I had had this book as a kid." - --Christina Soontornvat, three-time Newbery Honor recipient and author of The Tryout
"Brilliant! You will want to reread this again and again." - --Jennifer L. Holm, three-time Newbery Honor recipient and New York Times bestselling co-creator of Sunny Side Up
"Cindy discovers her authentic voice and embraces vulnerability to deepen her relationships with those around her. Chang's animated facial expressions reveal her vibrant personality."
- Horn Book Magazine
"A moving portrayal of a family processing fraught, messy changes." - Kirkus Reviews
"The sunny color palette and emotive facial expressions inject lightheartedness into the tween's grappling with her parents' secrets and her own shifting perspective. Readers will root for her growth as an artist and budding adolescent as she embraces the sometimes messy parts of life."
"[A] vital story of protecting and ultimately shattering the facade of a perfect family. Cindy is able to create a new vision of her family, literally, through the medium of her artwork. Honest and heartfelt." - School Library Journal
"Readers will relate to this reflective, independent thinker who's feisty yet loving. Themes of redemption and forgiveness unfold with humor and honesty as this semi-autobiographical tale offers a poignant exploration of family, acceptance, and what it means to love imperfect people." - Booklist