Week 2 - Book Review

Saenz, Benjamin. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2012. Print

The book I read last week was Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz.  This is a realistic fiction book based in El Paso, Texas in the late 1980s.  It is 350 pages, but there are many chapter breaks and it reads shorter than that.  The reading level is not too high, but the issues within are more mature, although there is only limited violence and cursing.

 The main character is Aristotle (Ari) who is fifteen, the son of Mexican immigrants, intelligent, a little scary when angry, and never feels very happy so he mostly hides in plain sight.  He worries about everything, keeps his feelings hidden and wonders how he can learn the secrets of his family (Why is his older brother in jail and no one even acknowledges he exists? Why won't his dad talk about the Vietnam War? Was he a "mistake" since he was born eleven years after his youngest sibling?) when no one will talk about hard things.  Ari makes friends with a boy at the pool named Dante.  Together, they form an unlikely friendship that seems special from the beginning.  Neither of them has every really had a true friend, just people who they are friendly with.  They talk about real things, they question the universe and they move through that difficult zone of boys-to-men.  

This book hits on real issues about teenagers realizing who they think they should be verses who they actually are.  It also looks at family dynamics, relationships between family members who loves each other but still struggle to communicate or act perfectly all the time.  Lastly, it takes an honest and not completely surprising turn when issues of love come up and how that can affect a friendship.  It is a book for more mature young adults and it will likely make them a little uncomfortable.  But it is wonderfully written, honest and a good book for teens feeling stuck between two realities, ages, or people they want to kiss.  I highly recommend it!

Here is my TBR List

One for the Murphys by Linda Mullaly Hunt

Rules by Cynthia Lord

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

The Center of Everything by Linda Urban - Read

The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z by Kate Messner (Organization – Alzheimer’s)

Earthbound by Aprilynne Pike (SciFY)

This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel (Dr. Frankenstein as a boy)

The Breadwinner Trilogy by Deborah Ellis (Afghanistan children)

The Matchbox Diary by Paul Fleischman

Eye of the Storm (Recommended by Gavin)

In a Heartbeat (Haley Russel)

Unremembered (HHH)

The Book Thief

A Clockwork Three (Theo)

Ender’s Game

Viral  by Kathy Riechs

The Giver

Eight Keys (Abby)

One for the Murphys (Abby)

Watership Down (JP)

Throat (Hopper)

The Chronicles of Harris Burdick (Elliott)