YA LGBT Books discussion

For April-May 2017 we will be reading The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

The first day of senior year:

Everything is about to change. Until this moment, Sal has always been certain of his place with his adoptive gay father and their loving Mexican-American family. But now his own history unexpectedly haunts him, and life-altering events force him and his best friend, Samantha, to confront issues of faith, loss, and grief.

Suddenly Sal is throwing punches, questioning everything, and discovering that he no longer knows who he really is—but if Sal’s not who he thought he was, who is he?

This thread is for discussion of this book - there is no specific reading schedule and you may post at any time. There may be spoilers in the comments, so be aware if you have not yet finished. Especially if you are posting early in the two months, please try to put real plot spoilers into a spoiler-hiding tag - write <*spoiler> before the text and <*/spoiler> at the end of it - with both * removed to make it work, and it will be hidden, revealed only (view spoiler)[ to those who choose to read it. (hide spoiler)]

I look forward to seeing what the group thinks of this one.

I'm really looking forward to reading this, at the same time as... not, because I'm worried whether the author can sustain the lovely storytelling that was Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. On the other hand, if he can, it should be a great read. I hope you guys can get hold of a copy and let us know what you think.

Because my copy of Honestly Ben has been held up by a flaw of the USPS, I picked up this on Wednesday and I'm already 75% done with it. It's a fast read, despite its larger page count.

I'm in the minority here, I didn't love Ari & Dante; I thought it was a good book, but I didn't connect with the characters as much as the rave reviews suggested I would. Coming into this one, my expectation are not as high as everyone else'. That said, this one has my emotional baggage packed up in a nice empathy carry-on and is having me board the express line to Feels Central Station.

Spoilers inbound.
(view spoiler)[Having lost my grandmother to cancer almost identically to how the book is progressing, I definitely empathize with the MC, Sal. I also relate to the way he is self-depreciating and unable to write his college application essay; that was the hardest part of going to college for me. (hide spoiler)]