And why Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda is gonna be your new fave.
BuzzFeed
Confession: I am 24, and maybe half the books I read are young adult fiction books. I don't think I'm in the minority on this; if anything, the rousing success of franchises like The Hunger Games and Divergent and The Maze Runner prove that not only are we terrified that we are living in a capitalist dystopia, but we also want to make sure our teens are ready to brutally murder people and lead the revolution. Oh, uh, and that I'm not the only adult reading YA.
As a connoisseur, if you will, of books whose alleged audience is people 10 years my junior, I can say that Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda, the debut novel from author Becky Albertelli, is definitely going to be one of those YA books with universal appeal.
It's not just that the characters feel authentic in a way that some teenage characters don't; it's that they're written with such breathtaking empathy, and such generosity of spirit, that reading this book instead feels sort of like reading a particularly well-put-together journal. Simon, who writes to his pen pal Blue under a fake name, is gay — and he's not out yet to anyone but Blue, a boy in his school who is also gay. When someone finds out and decides to use this information to blackmail Simon, he's torn between protecting himself and a person he cares about, and standing up to his tormenter. At its heart, it's a novel about being comfortable with yourself and owning your identity.
We spoke with author Becky Albertelli about all the important things: life, love, and the internet. Here's what she had to say.
Harper Collins
"The biggest problem in my opinion is just how vulnerable people are, especially women and marginalized people who are getting a lot more negative feedback than your average white straight guy. I think there are some scary things about the internet; there are some things that I really hope will change, but I'm a big believer that it's wonderful for connecting people."
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