Atwelve-year-old Indian American boy believes he is the reincarnation of Krishna and plans to unveil his true identity at the school talent show. Meet Kiran Sharma: lover of music, dance, and all things sensual; son of immigrants, social outcast, spiritual seeker. A boy who doesn’t quite understand his lot—until he realizes he’s a god . . . As an only son, Kiran has obligations—to excel in his studies, to honor the deities, to find a nice Indian girl, and, above all, to make his mother and father proud—standard stuff for a boy of his background. If only Kiran had anything in common with the other Indian kids besides the color of his skin. They reject him at every turn, and his cretinous public schoolmates are no better. Cincinnati in the early 1990s isn’t exactly a hotbed of cultural diversity, and Kiran’s not-so-well-kept secrets don’t endear him to any group. Playing with dolls, choosing ballet over basketball, taking the annual talent show way too seriously…the very things that make Kiran who he is also make him the star of his own personal freak show . . . Surrounded by examples of upstanding Indian Americans—in his own home, in his temple, at the weekly parties given by his parents’ friends—Kiran nevertheless finds it impossible to get the knack of “normalcy.” And then one fateful day, a revelation: perhaps his desires aren’t too earthly, but too divine. Perhaps the solution to the mystery of his existence has been before him since birth. For Kiran Sharma, a long, strange trip is about to begin—a journey so sublime, so ridiculous, so painfully beautiful, that it can only lead to the truth . . . Praise for Blue Boy “Compassionate, moving, funny, and wise, Blue Boy is one of the best debut novels I have read in years.” &mda

Tired of being in a land where everything is blue, Blue and his cow, Polly, travel in search of other hues and eventually find a way to share their own color with the world around them.

2017 PubWest Book Design Bronze Award Winner for Art Book This book offers a celebration of one of America’s most important collections of European art, housed in The Huntington, among the world’s great cultural, research, and educational centers. Gainsborough’s Blue Boy is just one of the masterpieces contained in the Huntington Galleries—the first public collection of Old Master painting, sculpture, and decorative arts in Southern California, and among the most important collections of British Grand Manner portraits anywhere. Over one hundred of the most impressive works housed at The Huntington, including paintings, sculptures, decorative arts, and works on paper, are published together for the first time in this handsome catalog. Breathtaking in their range, these works are presented in a dynamic format that juxtaposes medium, style, and cultural origin. The result is a visually stunning selection of European masterpieces that will serve as both a guide to The Huntington's collection and an enlightening compendium for anyone interested in European art.

The reception of Thomas Gainsborough’s Blue Boy from its origins to its appearances in contemporary visual culture reveals how its popularity was achieved and maintained by diverse audiences and in varied venues. Performative manifestations resulted in contradictory characterizations of the painted youth as an aristocrat or a "regular fellow," as masculine or feminine, or as heterosexual or gay. In private and public spaces where viewers saw the actual painting and where living and rendered replicas circulated, Gainsborough’s painting was often the centerpiece where dominant and subordinate classes met, gender identities were enacted, and sexuality was implicitly or overtly expressed.

In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson's All Boys Aren't Blue explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. A New York Times Bestseller! Good Morning America, NBC Nightly News, Today Show, and MSNBC feature stories From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys. Both a primer for teens eager to be allies as well as a reassuring testimony for young queer men of color, All Boys Aren't Blue covers topics such as gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy. Johnson's emotionally frank style of writing will appeal directly to young adults. Velshi Banned Book Club Indie Bestseller Teen Vogue Recommended Read Buzzfeed Recommended Read People Magazine Best Book of the Summer A New York Library Best Book of 2020 A Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2020 ... and more!

This handsome gift volume reveals the stories behind the Huntington's best-known paintings, The Blue Boy by Thomas Gainsborough and Pinkie by Sir Thomas Lawrence. Purchased by Henry E. Huntington in the 1920s, the two masterpieces have resided together in the railroad magnate's mansion-turned-art gallery in San Marino, California, for more than seventy years. Who were the children in these paintings and why did these leading artists choose them as subjects? These and many other intriguing questions are answered by renowned art historian Robert R. Wark. Sixteen color plates feature Pinkie and the Blue Boy as well as other related paintings.

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.