“How could I have ever been ashamed of loving Dante Quintana”
For devoted followers of Benjamin Alire Saenz’s beloved novel “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” the anticipation surrounding its film adaptation and upcoming theatrical release this year feels endless! Premiering at the 47th International Toronto Film Festival on September 9, 2022, the movie is set to hit theaters in the US tomorrow, leaving fans in the Philippines eagerly awaiting its arrival. (Fingers crossed!)
As we anxiously await, why not indulge in the excitement by watching the official trailer and a sneak peek clip of the movie?
The movie stars Max Pelayo and Reese Gonzales as the titular characters along with Eugenio Derbez, Eva Longoria, Veronica Falco, Isabella Gomez, Luna Blaise, Kevin Alejandro and Marlene Forte.
Aitch Alberto penned and directed the film with Lin-Manuel Miranda as one of its producers.
If you’re a fan of the multi-awarded and celebrated book, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by the oh-so-talented Mr. Benjamin Alire Sáenz. In that case, you’d be glad to know that the most awaited sequel is finally just a few months away from our grabby hands and reader apps!
In the sequel entitled Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World, they must discover what it means to stay in love and build a relationship in a world that seems to challenge their very existence.
Ari has spent all of his high schooQ days denying who he is, staying silent and invisible. He expected his senior year to be the same. But something in him cracked open when he fell in love with Dante, and he couldn’t go back. Suddenly he finds himself reaching out to new friends, standing up to bullies of all kinds, and making his voice heard. And, always, there is Dante, dreamy, witty Dante, who can get on Ari’s nerves and fill him with desire all at once.
The boys are determined to forge a path for themselves in a world that doesn’t understand them. But when Ari is faced with a shocking loss, he’ll have to fight like never before to create a life that is truthfully, joyfully, his own.
The highly anticipated sequel will be released on October 12, 2021, with this awesome cover below!
I’ve already pre-ordered my copy and I cannot wait to read it!!! Make sure to preorder your copy now!!! Link below!
About the Author Benjamin Alire Sáenz is an author of poetry and prose for adults and teens. He was the first Hispanic winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and a recipient of the American Book Award for his books for adults. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe was a Printz Honor Book, the Stonewall Award winner, the Pura Belpré Award winner, the Lambda Literary Award winner, and a finalist for the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award. His first novel for teens, Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood, was an ALA Top Ten Book for Young Adults and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His second book for teens, He Forgot to Say Goodbye, won the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award, the SouthwestBook Award, and was named a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age. He lives in El Paso, Texas.
Okay, calm down. We all need to calm down for a bit. Over the weekend, the ever so lovely Mr. Saenz tweeted a photo of him with Henry Alberto – the guy who apparently got the nod from our beloved author into writing the screenplay of the award-winning Young Adult book, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. I mean, screenplay. Like screenplay! Are we just months or years away from the very own movie of our dear Ari & Dante? Gosh! I was hoping for this for the longest time since I’ve read the book and I do know that eventually it’ll be translated into the big screen but having an acknowledgement that it would indeed be on the silver screen in the future is such a euphoric feeling!!!
Now, let’s just zoom past into the future as to who should be playing the main lead! If I were the casting director, it’d be awfully difficult for me to cast this once in a lifetime roles!!! Who are your Ari & Dante?
Published March 7th 2017 Format: Novel Genre: Coming-of-Age, Fiction /Family/Contemporary/YA Length: 452 pages, Hardcover Publisher: Clarion Books Cover Artist: Antonio Castro H. Ebook ASIN/ISBN: 0544586506 (ISBN13: 9780544586505) Characters: Salvador Silva, Samantha Diaz, Vicente Silva, Fito Fresqeuz
Blurb: 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?
I couldn’t wait to read “The Inexplicable Logic Of My Life” by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. I chose to wait for the physical book instead of the ebook, and it was definitely worth it. And let me just say, it was an experience worth every moment of anticipation. This book, in its entirety, is a masterpiece.
The characters—Sal, Sam, Mr. V, Fito, Mima, and the others—leap off the pages with such vibrancy that they feel like friends you’d eagerly welcome into your life. Each character carries their own captivating story, enriching the tapestry of the narrative.
Salvador, the heart and soul of the tale, captured my admiration from the very beginning. His maturity juxtaposed with moments of childlike innocence endeared him to me in a profound way. If there ever was a fictional character to aspire to, Sal would be it.
In Sam, we find the perfect complement to Sal’s character—feisty, distinct, and an embodiment of unwavering friendship. Their dynamic is a testament to the richness of their bond.
Mr. V, or Vicente, stands out as a paragon of what it means to be a man—a complex portrayal that adds depth to the narrative’s exploration of masculinity.
Fito’s journey tugged at my heartstrings, showcasing resilience in the face of adversity—an admirable trait that resonates deeply with readers.
The beautiful language of the story goes beyond ordinary words, stirring a range of emotions that profoundly connect with me. It seamlessly intertwines themes of family, individuality, and love, prompting readers to contemplate their own journeys.
In all honesty, this book stands as the pinnacle of my reading journey this year. Benjamin Alire Sáenz has crafted a work of art that is simply unparalleled.
Benjamin Alire Saenz, you are incomparable!
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
About The Author Benjamin Alire Sáenz (born 16 August 1954) is an award-winning American poet, novelist and writer of children’s books.
He was born at Old Picacho, New Mexico, the fourth of seven children, and was raised on a small farm near Mesilla, New Mexico. He graduated from Las Cruces High School in 1972. That fall, he entered St. Thomas Seminary in Denver, Colorado where he received a B.A. degree in Humanities and Philosophy in 1977. He studied Theology at the University of Louvain in Leuven, Belgium from 1977 to 1981. He was a priest for a few years in El Paso, Texas before leaving the order.
In 1985, he returned to school, and studied English and Creative Writing at the University of Texas at El Paso where he earned an M.A. degree in Creative Writing. He then spent a year at the University of Iowa as a PhD student in American Literature. A year later, he was awarded a Wallace E. Stegner fellowship. While at Stanford University under the guidance of Denise Levertov, he completed his first book of poems, Calendar of Dust, which won an American Book Award in 1992. He entered the Ph.D. program at Stanford and continued his studies for two more years. Before completing his Ph.D., he moved back to the border and began teaching at the University of Texas at El Paso in the bilingual MFA program.
His first novel, Carry Me Like Water was a saga that brought together the Victorian novel and the Latin American tradition of magic realism and received much critical attention.
In The Book of What Remains (Copper Canyon Press, 2010), his fifth book of poems, he writes to the core truth of life’s ever-shifting memories. Set along the Mexican border, the contrast between the desert’s austere beauty and the brutality of border politics mirrors humanity’s capacity for both generosity and cruelty.
In 2005, he curated a show of photographs by Julian Cardona.
He continues to teach in the Creative Writing Department at the University of Texas at El Paso.
Published September 1st 2009 Format: Novel Genre: Fiction /Family/Contemporary/YA Length: 250 pages, ebook Publisher: Cinco Puntos Press Cover Artist: Antonio Castro H. Ebook ISBN: 1933693797 Characters: Zach Gonzalez
Eighteen-year-old Zach does not remember why he’s in a rehabilitation center for alcoholics. Still, with therapy and group sessions, he soon finds out that he can deal with his past and work on his recovery.
I decided to pick this up when I found out that the author is working on his multi-awarded novel Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. I just wanted to get a feel again of how this author lured me the way he did with Ari and Dante’s story, and this one gave me those feelings again! And this came out three years before Ari and Dante]
What an incredible novel! The quality of his writing is impeccable. His characterization is rich, and the realism behind each character masked through his beautiful prose is fucking genius! Seriously, I cannot even begin to tell you how much I laughed with Zach, cried with him, and all those crazy mixed-up emotions that it felt like I was living his life.
I believe this story. I devoured everything in it, although Zach may have excessively used a few expressions–I thought these were part of his personality where he could not fully articulate himself, mainly depending on his private conversations with himself.
While reading it, I was Zach in the story – not that I’m an alcoholic, an addict, or something, but there’s something about his character that resonates with me. The ‘lost me,’ the ‘little boy’ me that may have been looking for some happiness. I dunno, it’s almost depressing to think about those times while I’m writing this review, but yeah, I guess the book is depressing but not in an “I will wallow in this shit and cry myself to sleep” kind of way. I guess what I’m trying to say is that you have a choice to read this book and get all weepy about it or read this, wallow in it but expect that there’s some happy ending waiting for you. I liked that in this book. It’s dark in a way that it shows the reality of people suffering from addiction. There was no sugarcoating the fact that it’s not just about destroying themselves. Still, it’s also about destroying everything around them, but most importantly – something I’ve gathered from experience that it’s a cry for help.
Last Night I Sang to the Monster is evocative prose of a novel that will leave you enthralled with Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s artistry! What a genuinely delightful masterpiece!
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars Published September 1st 2009 by Cinco Puntos Press
About the Author Benjamin Alire Sáenz is an author of poetry and prose for adults and teens. He was the first Hispanic winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and a recipient of the American Book Award for his books for adults. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe was a Printz Honor Book, the Stonewall Award winner, the Pura Belpré Award winner, the Lambda Literary Award winner, and a finalist for the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award. His first novel for teens, Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood, was an ALA Top Ten Book for Young Adults and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His second book for teens, He Forgot to Say Goodbye, won the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award, the Southwest Book Award, and was named a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age. He lives in El Paso, Texas.
The first time I saw and held this book, I thought it had one of the best covers I’ve seen in a while, and the title itself is screaming “Good Book!” “Read Me!” “Now!” but I didn’t exactly read it right away. It took me over three months before I finally decided to give it a go. I finished it in a day, and I was just so in love with it and was amazed at how affecting and rich the story was. I thought to myself, why didn’t I read this sooner? At least now, I know what the raves are all about!
This coming-of-age book is about young Mexican-American teenagers Aristotle Mendoza and Dante Quintana trying to discover the “secrets of the universe.” It’s a story of self-discovery, acceptance, and living in the now without forgetting the past. It tackles so many things that even adults alike don’t seem to understand. Those secrets of the universe became Ari and Dante’s emotional, psychological, and sometimes physical battlefields that they had to go through to realize something out of them.
I loved how this story reminded me of that feeling when I’ve read one of my favorite books, “Lonesome Dove” by Larry McMurtry, due to its stirring and lyrical rendition of the story. Benjamin Alire Saenz’s writing here is flawless. It speaks. It will affect you. Remember when Call had to bury Gus? I cried for days. And I cried reading this as well.
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is simply forgettable.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars Published February 21st 2012 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
About the Author Benjamin Alire Sáenz is an author of poetry and prose for adults and teens. He was the first Hispanic winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and a recipient of the American Book Award for his books for adults. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe was a Printz Honor Book, the Stonewall Award winner, the Pura Belpré Award winner, the Lambda Literary Award winner, and a finalist for the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award. His first novel for teens, Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood, was an ALA Top Ten Book for Young Adults and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His second book for teens, He Forgot to Say Goodbye, won the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award, the Southwest Book Award, and was named a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age. He lives in El Paso, Texas.
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