A Book A Week

Simon is a normal teenage boy. He's beginning his senior year in high-school and is starting to seriously consider his future. He's caught in that in-between moment of wanting to enjoy the last bits of his final school year and also looking toward the unknowns that his future may hold. Beyond the normal challenges of those teenage years, Simon faces an even more isolating obstacle. Simon has begun to accept the fact that he is gay.

In Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda author, Becky Albertalli presents an honest depiction of a young gay man coming to terms with his sexuality. She deftly handles the subject matter by placing the central story amidst a clever mystery. Simon has discovered another gay boy through the school's news page. The two have started an email correspondence that has allowed both boys to discover their sexual orientation in a safe space. It is nice to know they are not alone in their struggles. After weeks of back and forth, Simon is beginning to fall for the other boy. There's only one problem. The two are still communicating anonymously.

Simon's secret is threatened when he accidentally leaves his email logged in on one of the school computers. Another student reads Simon's anonymous exchanges and threatens to reveal his secret. The two reach a compromise. In exchange for the other boy's silence, Simon will do everything in his power to help him score a date with his best friend.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda breathes fresh life into the YA genre in a couple of unique ways. First, even in 2018, it is rare to have a novel featuring a protagonist who is part of the LGBTQ community. Albertalli crafts a character who not only serves as a vital piece of representation but also a character who comes off as an honest and genuine senior in high school. As someone who has faced a similar journey as Simon, it was nice to have this representation presented in such an honest way. Albertalli further separates her story from the tropes of the genre by cleverly presenting it through a mystery. Discovering the identity of Simon's anonymous pen pal is as much a part of the novel as his own inner self-discovery. In the end, the novel serves as a lovely reminder that we all are facing our own little internal battles. Despite our differences, we are all in this world together, facing similar struggles and triumphs. It's pretty great to have a book remind us of these things.

For more information, visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads.

(2018, 38)

Simon is a normal teenage boy. He is in the midst of his senior year of high school. His parents were high school sweethearts who married and started a family. He's the older brother to Nora a precocious youngster whose obsession with the show Chopped has turned her into a budding chef. Each morning Simon drives his used car to pick up his best friends before heading to class. Life is completely normal. But Simon has one huge secret. Simon is gay.

Through a post to a school message board, Simon discovers another student (Blue) is also harboring the secret of their sexuality. The two begin emailing each other anonymously and start to fall for each other. One day, Simon makes a fatal mistake by leaving his email logged in on one of the school computers. Another student sees the messages and blackmails Simon.

Forced to face the reality of others learning his secret, Simon follows along with the blackmailer's demands. Along the way, he turns to Blue for support and starts to come to terms with accepting himself. If Blue can accept Simon for who he is, maybe everyone else will be able to too.

Based upon the novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli, Love, Simon is a brilliant coming of age story of love, friendship, and acceptance. The mix of comedy, romance, and drama reminded me of many of the John Hughes films from the 1980's. Director Greg Berlanti frames the story in a way that is both extremely topical and classically timeless. Being one of the first mainstream Hollywood movies to touch on coming out places a ton of pressure on the film to get it right, but Love, Simon shoulders that responsibility with grace, humor, and thoughtfulness. The film's message of acceptance and compassion is important for all audiences, especially families.