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PFLAG MOM AND MULITPUBLISHED AUTHOR RELEASES NEW BOOK

(Rochester, New York, 09/5/10)- Award-winning novelist Kathryn Shay, the author of 37 books with five million copies sold to readers, has always written about controversial topics and her new novel, The Perfect Family, is no different. Viewing the coming out gay process from the minds of four main characters, the reader gets a sharp look at the confusion, fear and outright bias of a family, a church, a school and the community at large. Shay is the mother of a gay son.

The Perfect Family follows the Davidsons who are an average American family with a good life. They consider themselves lucky to have each other. Then their seventeen year old son tells them he's gay and their world shifts. They have no idea what they will go through after Jamie's disclosure: Jamie's father Mike can't reconcile his religious beliefs with his son's sexuality. His brother Brian is harassed by his jock buddies and angry at Jamie for complicating all their lives. Maggie, his mother, fears being able to protect her son while struggling to save her crumbling marriage. And Jamie feels guilty for the unhappiness his disclosure has caused. The story is full of both conflict and love, ending on a redeeming note.

"When my own son came out gay, I decided I wanted to tell a coming out story," Shay says. "The Perfect Family is fiction, but touches on some of the things my own family went through. I wished then I'd had a book like The Perfect Family to help me understand that a family's struggle when a teen comes out is common, but he deserves love and support from them. I was also a high school teacher for many years and I know teenagers. I know how they react to people who are different from them, how sexual orientation can freak them out and how they can be cruel. But they can also be unbelievably loyal and supportive. I tried to show all this in the book."

The Perfect Family has garnered rave reviews, but two of the most meaningful come from the gay community:

"After 20 years of educating on gay issues, The Perfect Family provided me with a fresh, soulful and enlightening coming out story. I would recommend The Perfect Family to anyone who wants to understand the innumerable issues that face a family when a child's reality collides with a family's expectations."--Scott Fearing, Outreach Director, The Gay Alliance of Genesee Valley

"The Perfect Family is an excellent coming-out-gay family story! As a researcher myself, I am very impressed with Shay's ability to convey the attitudes and emotions surrounding the family's coming out process so well. The Perfect Family is a conversational read with a strong message. I recommend this book highly. It is a must read for anyone dealing with coming out to their family, friends, and coworkers.--David Parker, PFLAG

The Perfect Family: ISBN: 9781602821811, Publication Date: September 13, 2010, Price: $16.95, Publisher: Bold Strokes Books

Wolesale: Bella Distribution, Perseus, Baker and Taylor and Ingram

Retail: Available from bookstores, online retailers and directly from the press (where readers can get a free copy of my son's CD with their orders) at

http://www.boldstrokesbooks.com/products.php?product=Perfect-Family%252C-The -%25252d-by-Kathryn-Shay.

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