Book Review: Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release Date: April 7, 2015
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda is the book the movie Love, Simon is based on. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but if it’s even half as good as the book, I know I’ll love it. High school junior Simon is gay. The only person he’s told is Blue, another gay junior at his school. Simon and Blue have been emailing each other anonymously since the beginning of the school year. After a time, Simon desperately wants to meet Blue in person but Blue isn’t ready yet. Who is Blue?

Oh my gosh, this book is so sweet. Simon is simply adorable and so is Blue. Their emails to each other chronicles not only the two of them slowly falling for each other but also their struggles of when and how to come out to their families. They both had such authentic teenage voices, which makes sense because Becky Albertalli is a clinical psychologist specializing in teenagers.

This book is not just about Simon’s emails to Blue. It’s also Simon’s life as told in first person by him. The group dynamics of Simon and his best friends Leah, Abby and Nick are complicated and made more complicated by the fact that his friends don’t know about Blue or even that Simon is gay.

I must be getting old because I totally related to Simon’s parents. They were fairly one-dimensional, which made sense because teenagers are generally self-centered and don’t know or care about their parents’ personal lives if it doesn’t directly affect them. One thing we do know about Simon’s mom is that she makes everything a BIG DEAL – even the fact that her baby boy Simon drinks coffee now. When did that start?? That is me one-hundred percent. I could hear my own son’s voice whenever Simon told his mom to STOP and CALM DOWN. I imagine Albertalli saw this in her clients’ parents as well.

It’s refreshing to read a YA novel about teen romance between gay boys. It showed that in many ways their struggles are not so different than those of straight teenagers. They are all trying to figure out who they are and where they fit in. They all experience love for the first time at some point. It’s the details of these struggles that are different. I loved this book and wanted to give it and Simon a great big hug when it was over. Both teens and adults will enjoy this book. Highly recommended.