THIS MOTH SAW BRIGHTNESS

Baltimore teen ‘Wayne Le, who goes by “D” for the invisible letter that begins his name, knows he’s a disappointment.

After D’s mother abruptly left the family eight years ago, he began sliding down the slippery slope of apathy. Now the high school senior’s relationship with his father is stilted, his grades are terrible, and his crush on classmate Jane Gallagher is going nowhere because he can’t bring himself to initiate a conversation. When D, who’s cued Vietnamese on his father’s side and whose mother is coded white, is invited by Johns Hopkins University to participate in an important research study, the thought of finally making his father proud convinces him to agree to take part. Soon after, he’s approached by Jane, who’s autistic and a fellow study participant, with an offer to meet periodically to discuss their thoughts about the study. Their conversations take a conspiratorial turn after Jane and D make some startling discoveries with the help of Kermit Shah, entrepreneurial tech whiz and D’s best friend. At the same time, D faces a difficult decision presented by an email from his long-absent mother, asking to visit him. This funny, insightful debut about mental illness, identity, and a person’s capacity to change packs a surprising emotional punch. Bold stylistic choices—wry footnotes, the inclusion of documents referenced in the story, a brief interjection by the author—add an interactive element to D's humorous and self-deprecating first-person narration.

Superb.