Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda Paperback – Organizer, June 7, 2016

Simon is a sixteen-year-old boy, who is not openly gay and is being blackmailed with his private emails with Blue by a fellow student. Blue is an anonymous and also closeted boy from the same high school. Simon and Blue have developed a flirtatious relationship through messaging, but neither one is aware of who the other is in real life because they use fake screen names. The student that is blackmailing Simon wants him to help get the attention of one of Simon's best friends that he has a crush on. Simon struggles to keep his sexuality a secret and protect his and Blue's blossoming romance from being revealed, while also trying to survive the usual high school drama.I loved the adorable “You’ve Got Mail” feeling where both characters meet online due to a tumblr post and have no idea who each other are. They continue to email each other back and forth and what begins as a friendship eventually turns into more. I'm such a sucker for stories like this that include love letters, text, emails, etc. The emailing was such an important addition in this book. It really sold the romance for me. I loved that this wasn’t just two teenagers meeting and instantly falling in “teenage love”. Simon and Blue got to know each other through their messages, without any influence of social status or appearances. It made it that much sweeter. And I loved reading the flirty and fun banter between these two.I won't give any clues as to who the love interest, Blue, is because half of the fun was trying to guess who it was. I thought I had it figured out and changed my mind a bunch of times. I did finally figure it out though, and I was so happy when it was revealed. I kind of want to go back and read the book again now that I know and read all of the clues again. lol! I have to admit that I did wish that we got to see more of Blue and Simon, together, in the end. They were so adorable!Simon is definitely going on my list as one of my favorite YA characters ever. I loved his voice and being in his head was so much fun. Simon is a theater geek who enjoys comics, Harry Potter and Oreos. He’s both confident and vulnerable and I it just made me want to hug him. His character felt so real and genuine and I’m sure anyone who reads Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda will be able to identify with at least some of the struggles Simon faces. He is such a relateable and fleshed out character that it’s impossible not to feel invested in his story.There were also a lot of great secondary characters (that I'm hoping eventually get their own books). We have Simon's three best friends Leah, Abby, and Nick. Abby was the bubbly, happy one that ended up being a really great supportive friend to him. Leah is the one that has known Simon the longest. She came off kind of harsh and bitchy at times, but I thought it made sense for her character. She is dealing with a one-sided crush on Nick, while watching him fall at Abby's feet. She also shows jealous moments when it comes to Simon and Abby's close friendship. There's also Nick, but we don't really get to know much about him other than the fact that he has a crush on Abby. He didn't get too much character development. There was just enough drama within their little social group for it to feel real without being over the top.This is another one of those rare young adult books that have great supportive parents involved in their son's life. I love that! I've said this in another review, but I feel like often times in YA books the parents are written as "the bane of their existence" or just aren't mentioned at all. They wanted to know what was going on in Simon's life, and set him straight when he needed it. His sisters were also a lot of fun.I can’t wait to pick up more of Becky Albertalli’s books. This is definitely a book I would recommend to anybody and everybody. It's a relatable and well-written story, and it has the most realistic yet likable characters. There are so many funny and humorous moments but it also deals with important themes in a very delicate and appropriate way. I kind of want to pick this up and start reading it all over again, and I just finished it! I didn't want it to end at all, and I already miss the characters. I own The Upside of Unrequited and I can't wait to pick it up soon!

I fell in love with Simon and cheered for him throughout this poignant coming-of-age story about a closeted gay teen who discovers that he is not alone in this world when he stumbles upon the latest town blog post (Creeksecrets) from another gay teen who shares similar feelings but hasn't yet told anyone either. Throughout Simon's story and despite his fears of how the world will react to his coming out, this is a story of how love and courage triumphs all. Whether you're gay or straight, young or mature, this is a must-read novel that not only entertains but provides insight in the life of gay teen coming to terms with who he is. As we walk in Simon's footsteps and experience life through his eyes, we begin to understand his struggles and empathize with his internal conflict.We follow Simon on a personal journey that begins with a threat to out him to the world if he doesn't comply with a classmate's demand to help him establish a romantic relationship with one of Simon's friends, Abby. Along the way, we are invited into Simon's world and his loving relationships with friends and family, all of whom we get to know quite well through family gatherings and friends hanging out. But we soon discover that he is in love with Blue whom he met online after seeing the aforementioned post and the two begin an epistolic friendship turned romance that gets quite steamy at times in a teen-romance sort of way. The two of them share their innermost feelings of being gay and feelings for each other and as these email exchanges continue, Simon begins to wonder who among his friends or classmates is this elusive Blue who will not agree to meet Simon or exchange phone numbers. We all have our suspects but I'm not saying a thing.Suddenly Simon's world is turned upside down and his worst fears come to fruition when his classmate Martin outs him in a post on Creeksecrets out of frustration for his unrequited romance with Abby. Now, Simon is forced to confront his new reality and how it will affect his relationships with his family and friends, not to mention Blue. Oh how my heart ached and I cried when he was outed and when two classmates humiliated him during play practice. But the most intense scene was when Martin try to apologize to Simon who at that point after being humiliated told Martin what he really thought of him and that the moment of coming out should have been his but Martin took that choice away. "I don't even want to look at you." Martin cries, Simon gets into his car and cries and the I the reader cried. To add even more misery to the story, Simon's friends find out that he had been lying to them as he tried to play matchmaker with Martin and Abby. Truly, Simon's world has been turned upside down.Without giving any more of the story away, I want to tell you that despite the unfounded fears that Simon may have had about his coming out, in the end, his family and friends, and Blue, proved to be nothing short of supportive, and that love between friends and family triumphs all.As a gay man myself, I related to much of this story and I too agonized with telling the world that I was different. Thankfully, I didn't have to go through being outed per se and most of my friends and family were equally supportive.I highly recommend this book for all teens, gay or straight, so they too can empathize and understand what it's like for someone to discover they are gay and how it feels to dread the passing of the most frightening of circumstances -- that the world may not accept the "real" you. I feared too, too many times, but today, the world is a different place than it was in the 80s and people are more accepting of members of the LGBT community. Finally!After you read the book, make sure to see watch the movie that brings Becky's Albertalli's story to life. I loved the movie even more. Both will make you laugh, cry, cheer and sympathize with Simon, not to mention all the LGBT people in this world who suffer similar circumstances. The reader, the audience, you become more aware of what we go through as we realize who we are and at the same time, fear anyone finding out who we are.A message to all gay teens and adults. If you're gay and you fear the moment of shouting out to the world that you are who you are, fear not and know there are many of us who have walked in your shoes and we stand united! Love triumphs all!