Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda
This was an absolutely adorable teenage romance. Simon is a closeted gay teenager who has been emailing with another closeted gay teenager in his high school. Of course, they don't know each other's identities, but as they become closer, Simon becomes more and more anxious to meet. Their slow burn relationship is the heart of the book.
But in the real world, someone has discovered that Simon is gay, and now he's being blackmailed. This is further complicated by the fact that the blackmailer knows of the existence of Simon's pen pal, though not his identity. But Simon is most worried that he'll lose that relationship, which is quickly becoming one of the most important ones in his life.
What most impressed me about this book was Albertalli's ability to sketch out Simon's friends and suggest entire private worlds that Simon is simply too self-absorbed to see. Not that Simon doesn't have some justification. He's a sixteen year old boy dealing with a lot. But he does end up missing out on some cool stuff happening around him, because he just can't get out of his own head. He's a bit like Harry Potter in that respect.
Ultimately this is a romantic comedy, and you know that everyone's going to get their happy ending. But sometimes a happy ending is just what you need. I definitely cried some happy tears towards the end of the book. Everything about it just made me so happy.
Especially the underlying message - the rejection of the homo sapiens agenda. Which is defined here as the idea that there's a default human being. There isn't one, and the sooner we accept that, the happier we'll all be.
But in the real world, someone has discovered that Simon is gay, and now he's being blackmailed. This is further complicated by the fact that the blackmailer knows of the existence of Simon's pen pal, though not his identity. But Simon is most worried that he'll lose that relationship, which is quickly becoming one of the most important ones in his life.
What most impressed me about this book was Albertalli's ability to sketch out Simon's friends and suggest entire private worlds that Simon is simply too self-absorbed to see. Not that Simon doesn't have some justification. He's a sixteen year old boy dealing with a lot. But he does end up missing out on some cool stuff happening around him, because he just can't get out of his own head. He's a bit like Harry Potter in that respect.
Ultimately this is a romantic comedy, and you know that everyone's going to get their happy ending. But sometimes a happy ending is just what you need. I definitely cried some happy tears towards the end of the book. Everything about it just made me so happy.
Especially the underlying message - the rejection of the homo sapiens agenda. Which is defined here as the idea that there's a default human being. There isn't one, and the sooner we accept that, the happier we'll all be.
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