Young Adult Review: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Hardcover, 359 pages

Published: Feb. 21st, 2012 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Source: Purchased

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.

I have a confession to make, I don't really like award winning books.  Okay, now that just sounds horrible.  But there are quite a few books I read because they won awards and I just didn't 'get' them.  I knew they were probably beautiful and well written and deep and all that junk, but I didn't click with them.  When I ordered this one I didn't know it had won awards but I opened it up and it was covered with award stickers (hiding that gorgeous cover!) and I went from being really excited about the book, to be slightly concerned that maybe it wouldn't be the book for me.  The thing is... it did work for me.

First of all, it read like an award winning book.  It was powerful and deep and beautiful, but this was one I connected with.  Ari has a lot of deep thoughts, he thinks and thinks and thinks.  He wants, no needs to know what happened to his big brother, he wants to know what happened to his father in the war, he doesn't understand everything he feels and he denies it, even to himself. He spends lots of time alone, with his thoughts.  Then he meets Dante.  Dante and him become good friends even though Dante is very different from him.  Dante says exactly what he thinks when he thinks it.  This sometimes annoys Ari, but it's clear he loves Dante anyway.  They are both different boys, strange even, and while they are different from each other, they do have this in common.

Initially I wasn't sure that this was GLBT, but at some point it becomes clear that it is.  Dante isn't shy about it once he realizes it, but it doesn't become a central theme to the book, at least not really... it's not obvious because it's about so much more.  We finally get more answers regarding this and as we watch their friendship change and grow.

This is a meandering, slow paced novel but somehow I found myself not wanting to put it down.  I was anxious to get answers to the few things we wonder about, but I was just enjoying watching Ari as he grew as a person, as he starts to realize things, as he gets answers and moves forward and eventually just lets things go and finds what is truly in his heart.  Another things I liked is the characters are Mexican American and they don't fit the stereotype.  This is something else that discussed in the book, and I liked how it was different, how we get two boys who are not defined by their heritage or by what expectations may be.  Also, the parents of both of them are very present in the book.  We see them a lot and I loved the relationship between everyone.  How everyone grew close as they went through different difficult times.

This is a YA contemporary book that I highly recommend.  It's beautifully wrote and powerfully spoke.  It may be a slower paced novel, but it's one that will really stick with you through the years.

I want to thank Maja from The Nocturnal Library, she recommended it when reading one of my other reviews and she was right, I really enjoyed it!

On another note, I'm traveling back today and should be back to reading and commenting on other blogs next week.  It won't be quite up to normal because I'll have so much catching up to do, but I WILL start visiting you all back soon, I promise! 

Happy 4th of July to those of you in the US!