Awards: Printz Honor 2013, Pura Belpre 2013, Stonewall 2013
Tough Issues: Brother is in prison, Father fought in Vietnam
Culture: Mexican American

First line: "One summer night I fell asleep, hoping the world would be different when I woke."

Spoiler

Aristotle and Dante's unfolding love is organic and sweet. In order to achieve this, Aristotle's gradual realization drags throughout the book. This slow crawl towards the climax of the story probably wouldn't phase speed readers but I was a bit bogged down by it. Yet Saenz tackled a challenging first-person writing style: truth to the thoughts of a narrator who is afraid to confront his feelings.

The layers of back story sometimes felt forced, such as his lesbian Aunt that dies at the end, having never been mentioned previously in the book. That being said, the layers are what give such great dimension and truth to the personalities of this story.

Besides these personal issues, the writing was admirable, and this story transcends fluffy, unrealistic romance to a deeper, more realistic growth of friends falling in love and the effects that an authentic person can have on someone that feels cut off from the world.