Hey Everyone!
Summary:
A lyrical novel about family and friendship from critically acclaimed author Benjamin Alire Sáenz. Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.
Notes:
Stonewall Book Award (2013), Printz Honor (2013), Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Children's/Young Adult (2013), Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award (ALAN/NCTE) Nominee (2013), Pura Belpre Author Award (2013) YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults (Top Ten) (2013)
Overall thoughts: This book was really hard for me to figure out. One minute I liked and one minute I wasn't exactly sold. I found myself having a really hard time liking Ari, and a easy time liking Dante, but since the book was told through Ari's perspective, it made reading the book a little difficult. I was refreshing to read such a true story, and not have the author filter through the parts that were uncomfortable for some,the parts that usually end up being the most important to read. I loved seeing the cultural struggles that the characters faced, putting questions of identity at the for-front of my mind. And, I have to say, that this made for a wonderful book to pick up and read anytime. The chapters were short but powerful, and they didn't need to be longer. The book was also sectioned off very nicely, the work feeling perfectly balanced at 356 pages. What I liked: The families. Both the families of Dante and Ari were fabulous. I loved Ari's mom and the conversations that they would have. I loved how his dad and him were having a struggling relationship but how, in the end, the reader got to understand why. It was such a gratifying tie up to that section of the storyline. Dante. I was in love with Dante. There was just something about his pureness that made me respect him. He didn't hide his tears, he didn't hide his pain and, during the time when he was trying to avoid the reality that he had already come to even before Chicago and all those girls he kissed, he was still himself. Again, I will mention how much I loved the pacing of the story. Even though there is much of a distinctive plot, with the story covering a rather significant period of time, it still felt that it was achieving something. Taking time to discover parts of the plot that would have been glossed over if there had been a distinctive agenda. Which isn't to say that the story didn't have purpose and meaning, it was just interpreting this meaning and purpose in another fashion. What I didn't like: Sometimes Ari could really, really get on my nerves. Like when he couldn't deal with his problems so he just sat and got completely wasted in the desert. I was really not liking that scene, and it made me rather uncomfortable,even though it was super realistic. But then Dante addressed that he didn't need to drink the feeling away, and that it was ok to cry it out, so that was fixed for me. I also know that most of Ari's character was based around all the things he had to deal with and how solid he had to be on the outside during it all, so the author did his job well, however Ari's harshness could get a little hard to read. I didn't like when Dante was gone. I think it was because he brought so much light to Ari's world that it was really rough to read without him. What I couldn't decide on: I don't know how he could have been introduced better, but I sort of feel that the "Ari's Brother" storyline was a little thrown onto the reader in the beginning. It also felt to just pop up and disappear throughout the book until it was confronted in the end. But I think it was important for Ari to prove that he was not like his brother, so I am rather undecided about this one. Which Leaves us with: Overall it was a very solid book that accurately represented several hardships that teen boys and youth in general struggle with during this time in their life. It was true, real, and didn't try to sugar coat important things. Ultimately it also had a very pleasing conclusion. 4.25 Stars 90%
Jaime :)