How to Draw a Secret

Debut creator Chang recounts a time of personal and familial tumult in this introspective graphic novel memoir. For the past five years, 12-year-old Taiwanese American aspiring artist Chang has been keeping a huge secret from her friends: her bàba moved back to Taiwan for work and the family—­including her mother and older sisters Em and Jess—has seen him infrequently since. Though the tween wants to enter a district-wide art competition, the theme of “What Family Means to Me” leaves her questioning what to draw. Upon their grandmother’s death, the siblings and Mom must travel to Taipei, where the youth reunites with her father. She also learns more about her mother’s resilience throughout the years, as well as the real reason surrounding Bàba’s departure. Chang cleverly denotes Taiwanese dialogue using dashes to represent aspects of conversation she doesn’t understand and smartly utilizes journal entries to display her youthful interiority. 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. Ages 8–12. Agent: Rebecca Sherman, Writers House. (Feb.)