Aristotle and Dante Discover the Universe

Opening Salvo

I am feeling somewhat smug as I initiate the conversation for our little group, seeing as how we were so behind on things in round one.  And knowing how things go at the end of a semester, I better appreciate the feeling now before I am emailing Dia and Arlene at 9:00 the night the final postings are due!

Two thumbs up to Aristotle and Dante.  Was it the best book I have read?  Nope.  But it provided a few hours of gentle escape from the rigours of endless shovelling over the holidays.  What you have here is a coming of age love story for our heroes, Aristotle and Dante.  At 15, while Dante is starting to have a pretty good handle on his sexual identity, Aristotle is unable to understand that the feelings he has for his friend go beyond being just "good friends".   Add to that his anger toward his parents for refusing to speak about a brother who is in jail, coping with grief when a beloved aunt dies, and desperately wanting the attention and approval of a remote dad, I felt a great sympathy for this young man. This really is Ari's journey to discover who he is, and what he believes in.

I think young readers will enjoy this novel; the themes of identity, family relationships, sexuality, friendship lend themselves well to the 13-18 age group. 

I will weigh back in again after reading book two.  Until then, I turn things over to the rest of my group!

Tracy