Aristotle (Ari) Mendoza is fifteen and knows he is different. He hasn’t ever had a real friend, not that he’s bullied at all, because he likes to fight and can stand up for himself if he needs to. Ari loves his parents, reading, and being alone doesn’t bother him. He does however, spend a lot of time missing and wondering about his big brother who went to prison when he was small. There are no pictures of his brother in the house and his parents never mention his name.

This angers Ari, but he keeps it to himself, not wanting to upset his mum. His dad isn’t a talker either and not often demonstrative with his love. Ari’s mum has explained that after returning from the Vietnam war, his dad had changed.

Dante Quintana is bright, talkative, kisses his parents on the cheek every time he returns home, and his parents are the same. He asks questions about everything and loves to swim, read poetry and classic novels. At the swimming pools one day, Dante asks Ari if he’d like to learn how to swim.

These two Mexican / American boys become inseparable in this 1980’s summer, spending all their time together, becoming part of each other’s families and lives. Through laughter, tears, time and a horrific accident, their bond grows further, their understanding of one another strengthened.

By seventeen they are tentatively becoming the men they are going to be. Jobs, girls, parent’s fallability. Drugs, alcohol and parties. These are all mysteries of the universe they journey through together and alone to finally discover the truth.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe won multiple awards and are so well deserved. The well used ‘Coming of Age’ label couldn’t be more perfect for this novel. Growing up is gradual, messy, loving, angry and beautiful and so is this story.

The characters are so real on the page, I know they will be travelling around with me for a while. There is nothing predictable about their journey. Their friendship is sometimes mostly one-way, but when tested, a life is put at stake. Loyalty is never mentioned, but again when tested, it beams brighter than sense, resulting in what feels like the right thing to do.

Relationships between these boys and their parents are beautiful to watch – not in a fluffy, perfect kind of way, but in the way the parents were learning about themselves just as their boys were. We are only human and we do the best we can at the time with the emotions and truths that we have. Sometimes they aren’t the best thing in the long run, but the acceptance and change is wonderfully written.

Wow. Beautiful. Raw. Real.

Author – Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Age – 14+

(2021, Simon & Schuster, Friendship, Coming of Age, Growing Up, Family, Award Winner, Prison, Siblings, Secrets, Understanding, Empathy, Fight, Violence, Differences, Crime, Vietnam, PTSD, Poetry, LGBTQ+)