The Bookworm says... Yes! Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli was an enjoyable read. Simon, under the alias of Jacques, exchanges emails with a peer under the alias Blue. The boys are in school together, they are both gay, and neither of them has come out. As they continue to email back and forth, Simon begins to fall for Blue. Not even Simon's closest friends know that he is gay, so anyone reading these emails would wreak havoc on Simon's life. Naturally, that is exactly what happens. When the class-clown Martin gets his hands on the emails, he puts not only Simon's privacy and sexuality at stake, but Blue's as well. Martin blackmails Simon with the emails, and Simon's life begins to enter turmoil. Suddenly, everything in Simon's life is a question. Who is Blue? Who does he love? Is he attracted to boys or girls? While fighting through tension from every direction in his life, Simon has to figure out why he's so in love with a boy he's never met.
This was a quick, light (ish) read that I thoroughly enjoyed. The plot seemed vaguely familiar, but I can't place exactly what it is that it reminds me of. One of the best aspects of this novel is how true it is to teenagers. With the dominance of the internet in this day and age, relationships beginning online are not uncommon. That makes Becky Albertalli's story feel more real. The characters she created are so artfully crafted that you fall in love with them falling in love with each other. Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda is a book that I would recommend to anyone looking for a quick, relaxing read that still has an eventful plotline.
"Why is straight the default? Everyone should have to declare one way or another, and it shouldn't be this big thing whether you're straight, gay, bi, or whatever."
