The You I See

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.