“I got to thinking that poems were like people. Some people you got right off the bat. Some people you just didn’t get–and never would get.”
-Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Stories live inside us. Each person is affected differently by an author’s words, but sometimes those words resonant deep within an individual, destroying all mental gravity and erupting into a supernova of emotions and inspiration. In the novel Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, author Benjamin Alire Sáenz creates a beautiful story about friendship, racial and ethnic identity, sexuality and family. His words strike true with many readers and the story is impossible to put down.
Summer 1987, El Paso, Texas. Aristotle Mendoza, or Ari, is a quiet teenager and a loner trapped in his own head. At age 15, he is troubled by his older brother in prison whom his family refuses to talk about. But he isn’t the only one who is struggling. Ari’s mother is in denial over her son’s imprisonment, and refuses to discuss the topic while Ari’s father is mentally stuck in the Vietnam War, further distancing himself from his family. A trip to the public swimming pool allows Ari to meet Dante Quintana, a smart and caring boy with an unusual way of viewing the world. The two form an unlikely friendship after Dante teaches Ari how to swim. After even their first encounter Ari knows Dante is different from all of the other boys because Dante is expressive and intelligent, and he’s well versed in art and literature for a 15-year-old. The two immediately bond over their names, agreeing they are strange as far as names go, as well as their shared Mexican heritage.
The novel follows a timeline of Ari’s memories over the summer. During the scorching heat of a summer in Texas, Ari spends a lot of time with Dante; the two spend their time throwing shoes in the street and gazing at the stars along. Ari also experiences a change in the relationship he has with his parents. Ari and Dante share wonderful and in depth conversations with one another full of interesting perspectives on the world with a touch of the boys’ quirkiness as they discuss the smaller topics of adolescents. Unlike many coming-of-age novels, Sáenz’s story never once appears cliched in the development of his characters. Sáenz’s characters struggle and fight with one another as well as themselves. But despite their differences, it is quite clear how much Ari and Dante care for one another. The relationship Sáenz creates between these two characters is breathtaking and realistic.
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is a novel for all readers and perfect for days spent at home in a nest of blankets or in the sweet breeze of air conditioning. Sáenz is a wonderful author with a strong voice and an influential perspective. Ari and Dante are characters one will find it difficult not to fall in love with as the pair search the universe for who they are and who they want to be. Sáenz shows just how beautiful words can be in this brilliant novel. As Ari words it, “Words were different when they lived inside of you.”