Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Genre: Fiction, YA

This is the story of Aristotle, though everyone calls him Ari, growing up in the early 80’s in California. Ari, who is of Mexican descent, is fifteen years old when we first meet him. He, like most teenagers, feels uncomfortable in his own skin, wants to recede into the background, and kind of do his own thing. Ari’s parents worry about him because he has no friends. Lucky for him he meets Dante, also from a Mexican family, at the pool, and the two hit it off. Dante introduces Ari to swimming and star gazing and they become the closest of friends. As they grow older and change and learn things about themselves and each other, their differences drive them closer together, and teach them not only about the world out there, but about themselves inside. This is a story of friendship and love that is of the purest kind.

What a sweet coming of age and coming into your own story. It's not often we read about boys from this cultural background, so I really love this aspect of this book. But, I think the thing that really resonated for me about this book is about relationships and families. Ari is a brooding, unhappy kid. We know that some of that has to do with family history, but I kept thinking that it was some grand thing that causes this general dissatisfaction. As the story unfolds we learn more about why Ari feels the way he does. Throughout the story I kept thinking, "But his parents are so sweet, he seems to have a good relationship with his sisters, what gives?" What unfolds is that, Ari, like all of us, has his own story and perspective, and that perspective affects his view of the world. That view only changes once he opens his mind to something different. This is another YA novel I enjoyed, proving that a good story is a good story.