I recently went to the library, since I haven't been reading much in college, and I wanted to start that passion of reading back up again. I was walking around trying to find something to read, and I saw a book called "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda". I immediately recognized the title, as I had seen a trailer for the movie adaptation of the same book. The trailer looked great, and if it seemed great, then the book must be as well.
So I picked it up, and brought it home. I thought it was an innocent teen book. I was wrong. "Simon" is about 16-year closeted gay teen Simon who has a secret email relationship with another teen in his school. However, a mean fellow classmate sees the emails, and uses them as blackmail to get what he wants. The threat of being outed is too much to bear, and he goes along with the blackmail while still emailing his secret friend.
You would think Becky Albertalli (the author) was a teenage boy in her past life. The voice of Simon is so awkward, so relatable that I was laughing out loud or blushing through his many adventures. His friends (Leah the downer, Nick the soccer star and Abby the new girl) contribute so much to the story, as they are always there at pivotal moments in the book. They have witty comments, mostly contributed by Simon's BFF Leah.
Simon's family is super funny and realistic, as his three sisters always keep him on his toes.
I will try not to give much away, but Simon's emails to his secret friend, named Blue, always made me so happy. I always looked forward to every other chapter having these exchanges, and they were just adorable. As both boys have secret names to protect their identity, I was kept guessing who Blue was throughout the whole book.
When it finally was revealed to me who Blue was, I jumped up with joy. I had guessed right! (Don't worry I won't spoil it!). I literally read the book until 2 in the morning, it was that good. This book is just so amazing all around, as it shows real life LGBTQ issues, and that it important to young teens who are dealing with similar issues.
It makes me thrilled that this wonderful book has been made into a movie that comes out (see the pun haha) in March. When I get home for March break the first thing I am going to do is run to the movie theater to see this work of art. Sure, the movie will be slightly different, but if Becky Albertalli likes it, I probably will too.
Please go read "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli. It will change your life. Seriously.
