Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

This book is one of those that gets talked about A LOT! Especially if you're asking around about recommendations for YA books about LGBTQ characters. So it's been on my radar but it's just one of those that got pushed further down on my to-be-read shelf. But my younger sister loved this book so she made sure it was one of my Christmas gifts this past year. So here's what I finally thought of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz. 

Set in the 1980s, Aristotle, who only goes by Ari, is a typical 15-year-old boy. One day he meets Dante, an equally oddly named teenage boy who offers to teach him how to swim. Ari agrees and this leads them down the path of friendship. They go through some ups and downs as they experience the growing pains of being teenagers and the freedoms of summer. And ultimately they have to decide 

My thoughts on this novel are solely based on my experiences as a straight woman who looks to have LGBTQ representation in literature in her classroom. Feel free to view my review through that lens. 

Latinx representation. Dante frequently talks about how he doesn't feel Mexican enough and points out how Mexican Ari is. There are some things that pop up here and there about their cultural heritage but I'm not really sure I feel that it affects the story or its themes much. 

Ari is also dealing with his older brother being in jail. We never meet his older brother, Bernardo, in the story but he is like a ghost, who quietly affects many aspects of Ari's relationship with his parents. 

Unsatisfied by development towards ending. I felt like Ari was denying his feelings for Dante right up until his parents pointed how to him their belief that he was in love with Dante and then all of a sudden he wholly embraced this queer side of himself. It seemed very strange to me.

Honestly, I also find it hard to believe that two teenage boys and both sets of their parents ended up being completely accepting of their sexuality in the 1980s. They do experience some homophobia from people in their town and Dante is even physically beat up at one point. But I know that many people just want LGBTQ books where the homophobia and the fear of not being accepted are not as predominant so that it can just be a book about queer joy. 

Overall I did love the characters and the dialogue. There was a lot of wittiness in the book and I would recommend this to teens looking for LGBTQ representation in novels. You can purchase a copy here!