Reading guide for Picture Us In The Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert

Reading Guide Questions

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. Quantum entanglement is a phenomenon Kelly Loy Gilbert explored during her research process for Picture Us in the Light as well as its potential human implications. Why do you think it was important for this story to open with a chapter on Danny's father's experiments on quantum entanglement? What other moments in the story did you notice quantum entanglement at work?
2. Kelly connects Danny's story with Rosa Maria Hernandez's experience of ripped from her family while being rushed to the hospital. What news stories have made you curious or interested in learning more about the people behind them?
3. In many YA books, parents are barriers to the youth and their story and therefore end up off-screen. In Picture Us in the Light, Danny's parents play an integral role in his story. Talk about the ways your family, community, and cultural upbringing shaped you as a person today.
4. Secrets play an important role in this story. Danny's parents keep secrets from him about their past. Danny, Harry, and Regina keep secrets from each other about things that happened before Sandra's death. Danny and Harry keep their feelings secret from one another. What impact do those secrets have on the character's relationships with each other?
5. The teens in this story are very driven, and they've tied so much of their identity as individuals and sense of self worth in their future goals. In what ways is that mindset detrimental to their mental and emotional wellbeing?
6. Danny's parent's story illustrates the way in which our country's current immigration policies have the potential to tear families apart. How did you feel about Danny's parent's situation? Do you think you would make the same choices his parents did if you found yourself in similar circumstances?
7. Throughout the novel, Danny's art is representative of the emotional challenges he's facing. What do you think his sketching of Mr. X represented? What do you think his struggle to draw Sandra represented?
8. The moment when Danny meets his sister for the first time is a very emotionally charged moment in the story. Do you feel like you would react similarly to the way she did in that situation? What do you think the future holds for their relationship?
9. The chapters told from Danny's sister's point of view really increase the tension and mystery around Danny's parent's secret. What was your reaction when you found out what happened to her? Do you think his parents ultimately made the right decision?
10. From Danny's dad's experiments to the hidden file on the Ballard family, there are so many story threads in this book that the author has to tie together in the end. What did you think of the resolution of the story? Were you able to figure it out along the way, or was the big reveal a surprise?

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Created by Krysti Meyer of YAandWine and Christy Hayes of DiamondxGirl

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Disney-Hyperion. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.