Diversity – LaShaunda Loves

Original Title: The Art of Being Normal: A Novel by Lisa Williamson
Edition: Kindle ARC, 353 pages
Published: May 31, 2016 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Characters: David Piper, Leo Denton
Rating: 4/5 stars

Synopsis: David Piper has always been an outsider. His parents think he’s gay. The school bully thinks he’s a freak. Only his two best friends know the real truth: David wants to be a girl.

On the first day at his new school Leo Denton has one goal: to be invisible. Attracting the attention of the most beautiful girl in his class is definitely not part of that plan. When Leo stands up for David in a fight, an unlikely friendship forms. But things are about to get messy. Because at Eden Park School secrets have a funny habit of not staying secret for long , and soon everyone knows that Leo used to be a girl.

As David prepares to come out to his family and transition into life as a girl and Leo wrestles with figuring out how to deal with people who try to define him through his history, they find in each other the friendship and support they need to navigate life as transgender teens as well as the courage to decide for themselves what normal really means.

Book Review: Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda

August 21, 2016 2 Comments

Original Title: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
Edition: Paperback, 303 pages
Published: April 7th, 2015 by Penguin
Characters: Simon Spier, “Blue”, Martin Addinson
Rating: 4/5

Synopsis: 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 Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.

With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. 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.

Book Review: The Art of Being Normal

Book Review: Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda

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