Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Goodreads Summary:

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. 

My Thoughts:

Albertalli creates a genuine world where real-life teenagers could inhabit. There are not plot-twisting high school kids who are out to be the worst people ever. There are people who are teenagers navigating life. One happens to be Simon and his tight-knit group of friends, Leah, Nick, and Abby.

Simon is also gay but has not come out to anyone yet. It shouldn't be a big deal. No one comes out heterosexual so why should he come out gay? He knows his family and friends will probably be OK with it....but...

He begins writing another gay boy, code name Blue, at his high school anonymously. It's all going smoothly until Martin discovers their emails and blackmails him into helping him get with one of his best friends Abby. Along the way he begins to see that his family and friends have lives of their own, ones that he has never thought to ask about.

We also learn more about Martin. Why would he do such a thing? Albertalli is fantastic at making every character real and fleshed-out. It's an adorable look in Simon's love-life. Will he discover who Blue is? Will they get-together? How will the world react when it finds out he's gay? Even his parents and his sisters have active roles in the story with their thoughts and weaknesses.

It's a quick but important story. And I loved reading it.

I've heard great things about the movie too and would like to compare the movie to the book soon.