Picture us here

ILLUSTRATION | SONIA VERMA

Behind Kelly Loy Gilbert’s “Picture Us in the Light,” the novel that takes place at MVHS BY SHIVANI VERMA

This article contains spoilers for “Picture Us in the Light” by Kelly Loy Gilbert.

When MVHS alum ‘03 and author Kelly Loy Gilbert’s mother first read “Picture she was in high school, she did not feel truly represented by the books she read. She recalls all the Asian Us in the Light,” she told Gilbert that because of its setting, “only people from Cupertino [were] ever going to read this book.”

The novel, released in 2018, follows protagonist Danny Cheng, a senior at MVHS who finds out that his parents are hiding their past from him, while attempting to maintain his relationships with his friends. It addresses Asian culture, family, sexuality, immigration, mental health and trauma.

Described by Gilbert as “a family drama about how secrets and traumas can reverberate across generations,” “Picture Us in the Light” is littered with references to the Cupertino community — Danny befriends his best friend during their eighth grade trip to Yosemite, drives down Bubb Road and gets donuts from Donut Wheel. His parents shop at Ranch 99 and his friends worry about getting into their dream colleges.

Gilbert specifically wanted the story to be set in Cupertino because when American representation consisting of a character and their culture standing in stark contrast from their surroundings; being in an extreme minority was often part of the books’ plots. Yet Gilbert believes that being in the racial majority rather than a minority was “formative” to her and wanted to reflect that in the novel. “A lot of the experiences that I had growing up Asian American felt really normalized, and they felt really kind of widespread and not really othered in a way that I think they would have been if I’d grown up somewhere else,” Gilbert said. “So one of the things I wanted to do in the book was write that setting where you could have this diverse variety of Asian American experiences, and where it didn’t feel like this really narrow other experience.” However, Gilbert still acknowledges that racist perspectives exist in Cupertino. According to her, a unique aspect of Cupertino is how it’s like a “bubble” that somewhat, but not completely, shields its population of people of color from overt racism. She wanted racism to be an aspect of the book because she believed it would be “more true to life.”

Gilbert not only wanted to capture the nuances of the community’s culture and racial dynamics, but also explore the “class stratification” and “intense academic pressure” that she has found rampant in Cupertino. Although she says she loved her years at MVHS, Gilbert acknowledges the difficulties of its environment.

“I feel like [everyone I know] still struggle[s] so much with self-esteem or [relaxation] because that pressure and idea that you always have to be succeeding and working really hard and competing really gets ingrained in you [and forms] a really capitalistic [idea of] what success and self-worth look like,” Gilbert said. “My insight is that it’s hard to break out of even all these years later.”

She tried to mirror both her meaningful friendships at MVHS and the issues of mental health that were

discussed at school into the “tightknit” relationships that Danny is preoccupied with for much of the story and the book’s overarching themes. The thick of the Cheng family’s secrets, however — Danny’s discovery of his lost sister Joy, who was kidnapped in China, sold to an orphanage and then adopted by an American family — was inspired from family history.

“My grandmother grew up in an orphanage for Chinese girls, and she’s always felt that if she hadn’t [grown up there] — she would have been trafficked, because it was during Great Depression, and there was just not a lot of safety or opportunity for people who were in poverty, especially Chinese girls in poverty,” Gilbert said. “That always really haunted me, the idea that that could have happened to her and just thinking about how I wouldn’t exist if that had happened and how her experiences reverberated through my whole family.”

However, these family events were not the initial inspiration that started the novel. In fact, “Picture Us in the Light” was originally a different type of family drama — Gilbert started writing it in 2016 as a teen pregnancy story, in which Danny and his friend Regina would raise a child together. Yet with that plot, Gilbert felt that she was missing “the heart of the story,” and at the time, during the height of the 2016 presidential election, she remembers seeing a lot of “hateful rhetoric” about undocumented immigration.

The attitudes that circulated in the country at the time seemed “dehumanizing” to her, especially because they were being given a bigger platform by members of the U.S. government. Gilbert was specifically interested in highlighting circumstances that broke the stereotypes of undocumented immigration because she had noticed

that some people believed that undocumented immigrants should simply “do things the right way.” “I wanted to write about a family that was living life on the margins and that was being harmed by things that were happening in the country, and how they were trying to survive and also find joy and respite in one another despite their circumstances,” Gilbert said. “So I think everything that was happening in the country and just the election and the ways people were responding — I think a lot of the book was written as a response to that.” Now, a few years after the book’s release, Gilbert says that she is grateful for the way it has been received. She believes that 20% of the responses she receives about the book are from Asian Americans who grew up in the 83% of MVHS students who haven’t read “Picture Us in the Light” would read it after knowing it takes place at MVHS Bay Area, and *According to a survey of 152 people another 20% is from gay men who feel represented by Danny and the book’s queer romance. Gilbert believes that currently it’s “an exciting time” for Asian American literature, as stories have “[broken] out of that bubble” and grown much more varied in the last five years. As of last year, “Picture Us in the Light” has been added to the school’s ninth grade literature curriculum as an option for students to read in the narrative unit. But regardless of where readers are from or what their personal connection to the book is, Gilbert hopes that everyone can take away something from the book that “they haven’t thought too much about before.” “My big dream would be that it would help affect people’s views on immigration and people who are undocumented,” Gilbert said. “I guess I would hope that it would help people see more of the humanity behind the headlines and just would help inspire people to push for more ethical and compassionate laws and policies.” FRESHMAN ALYSSA YANG

“We’re always like, ‘Oh, it’s just the same old Cupertino. ... It’s boring.’ … But I think [this book] was a reminder that there is always so much complexity around us.”

FRESHMAN KARTIK PATRI

“I thought [the book] was really nice because I could imagine all the different contexts in which [the characters were] in ... and I understood the references that were made in the book.”

PHOTOS | SHIVAN I V E R M A

FRESHMAN ASHLEY KWONG

“I was expecting this book to be like other [books in our] curriculum ... But [there were] twists and turns, secrets and problems that I’ve never faced in my lifetime yet. That really intrigued me.”

it’s lit

Matadors share their opinions on the required reading in literature courses BY ADITYA SHUKLA

the most popular books, sorted by grade level

9

“Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe”

“Fahrenheit 451”

“Born a Crime”

10

“Animal Farm”

“Waiting for an Angel”

“The Kite Runner”

11 12

“The Great Gatsby” “Grendel”

“Citizen” “The Penelopiad”

“American Born Chinese” “Wuthering Heights ”

76% of students actually read the reading material they were 66% provided. of students also enjoyed the books that they were given.

23%

of MVHS students

choose their literature classes based on book selections

*According to a survey of 165 people

ILLUSTRATIONS | APRIL WANG

464

the amount of pages in “The Hate U Give,” the longest book provided from any school literature class at MVHS

31%

of MVHS students

would remove “Romeo and Juliet” from the literature curriculum

*According to a survey of 165 people

“It seems to be a part of the curriculum because of tradition rather than content. The book is not very educational nor does its messages relate to the freshmen who read it.” “Though it might provide a dramatic story that is enjoyable by most of the audience, it proves to show an outdated subdialect of English that is used for nothing but humor.”

ATHLETE OF THE MONTH BEN RICHARDSON

BY ANNA JEROLIMOV

Following in his two older brothers’ footsteps, senior Ben Richardson first tried soccer at the age of four. Fourteen years later, Richardson recently completed his fourth season playing as an attacking midfielder on the Boys Soccer team and his third on the varsity team.

Due to an injury to his left groin, Richardson participated in only eight out of 20 games this season. In these games, Richardson scored three goals, two of which were during the team’s senior night game against Milpitas High School on Feb. 15. Richardson highlights this game as his favorite due to the positive energy of the team that was boosted by the large crowd presence.

In December of 2021, Richardson announced his commitment to play Division Three soccer and continue his academic career at New York University. Richardson says that NYU stood out to him due to it having both a strong academic and athletic program, prompting him to showcase his skills to the coaches there, which eventually led to him receiving an offer.

As a whole, Richardson says that playing soccer has improved his time management skills, as he has learned how to balance the social, academic and athletic aspects of his life. He states that his favorite aspect of playing soccer is being part of the community it brings, as it is “not always just about the sport,” but also “the relationships you build with your teammates.”

3

GOALS*

NYU COMMIT

D3 SOCCER

3

YEARS ON VARSITY

SPORTS RECAP

Summarizing the winter sports season results BY ANNA JEROLIMOV

PHOTO | ANNA JEROLIMOV

Sophomore Yanwei Zhou attempts to take down his opponent in his matchup during a dual meet against Los Altos High School. The Matadors ended league play with a 4-2 record.

PHOTO | ANNA JEROLIMOV

Junior Julianna Kimm scores a three pointer in a game on Feb. 2 against Mountain View High School, which the team won 60-39. The Varsity Girls Basketball team was undefeated in its league and competed in the first three rounds of CCS playoffs, falling 50-30 to Evergreen Valley High School in the quarterfinals on Feb. 22.

Sophomore Moulik Lohmor blocks a Leigh High School opponent from making a layup in a scrimmage against them on Nov. 20, which LHS won 54-47. The Varsity Boys Basketball team ended the season with an overall record of 10-13 and ended league play with a record of 2-10, making it sixth in the SCVAL El Camino League.

Junior Justine Garcia dribbles down the field during the Varsity Girls Soccer senior night against Cupertino High School, which MVHS won 2-0. The team placed fifth in the El Camino League with a record of 3-7-2.

PHOTO | ANNA JEROLIMOV

Senior Chancellor Stevens dribbles down the field while blocking a Cupertino High School player from gaining possession of the ball in a game against them on Jan. 20, which MVHS won 2-0. The Varsity Boys Soccer team ended the season with a record of 8-3-1, coming second in the SCVAL El Camino League.