Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
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Now a major motion picture starring Max Pelayo, Reese Gonzales, and Eva Longoria!
A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021)
A lyrical novel about family and friendship from critically acclaimed author Benjamin Alire S¡enz.
Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship--the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.
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Book Details
- ISBN
- 9781442408920
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Authors
- Benjamin Alire Sáenz
- Publisher
- Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
- Published Date
- February 21, 2012
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 368
- Physical Info
- 1.4 in H x 8.3 in L x 5.6 in W (0.95 lb)
Such a good book. I didn't want to put it down. I ordered the sequel before I was half way finished with this one. The story of this book is so relatable. Can't wait for sequel to get here to finished Ari and Dante's story!
I didn’t always enjoy reading this this one. I wasn’t fond of the style of writing. There was too much dialogue. But I liked the coming-of-age story. It’s a very good YA book.
I bought this for some summer readying for my 11 year old, and she finished it faster than any book she’s ever had. She fell in love with it! I didn’t even have time to order the second one before she got through this, she stayed up late 2 days to get through it! It’s her favorite book ever, as she has told me and her dad several times. I read everything before I give the titles to her, just in case she has any questions, or so we can discuss the book together when she is done, and we both agreed it was a good read, and each of us cried a couple of times, which always means we enjoyed it enough to fall in love with the characters.
This is an adorable coming-of-age YA Novel. Set at the end of the 80s, Aristotle (but he prefers Ari) is Mexican-American, a kid born in a Mexican family living in the States. So, he's neither this, or that. Americans see him as Latino, and Mexicans would see him as an American. He's looking for his place in the world, with three older siblings (two twin sisters and a brother), they're old enough to live out of the family house, his father has PTSD and his mother is a teacher of 15 year-old kids, just like him.Is it something new that he has no friends? Of course not. His only friend is Dante Quintana, a Mexican-American boy like him, someone who doesn't go along with the crowd, who teaches Ari how to swim and with whom he finds a lot of things in common and stuff to discover.You think you know where this is going, even if you haven't read a YA book? Think again! I loved the surprising twists of the story, it leaves the traditional plot and goes deeper, all because of an accident. And before that surprise, it was the audiobook what made me stay. Lin-Manuel Miranda is THE PERFECT READER for this book. Probably, he was Ari once upon a time, or he felt exactly like him.The story is simply adorable. It's not a traditional family, so it's not a traditional story. Ari's family has a lot of secrets, which we discover with him. His brother, his aunt, and even his mother and father have a lot of things kept hidden from him, and through the whole book we learn that secrets only hurt us. The best way to live is being free and honest, with ourselves and each other.And clearly, I ended up sobbing. I wasn't expecting that! A beautiful ending! Yes, quite idealistic, but in the world today, that might happen. I was quite surprised by this book, I wasn't really clear what it was about before I started reading, and that'd probably why I loved it so much. Such a beautiful surprise!!!!
"One of the secrets of the universe was that our instincts were sometimes stronger than our minds."This is one of those books I have seen around so much that it was talked of like a myth or a legend. Something to be revered. So my expectations for this were much higher than they should have been.This is about two boys the summer they were both fifteen, Aristotle and Dante. Aristotle was quite and not involved with people around him. He felt disconnected from the world around him. Dante was much the same, but he was more adventurous and open to experience. Experience he got through books. Both Aristotle and Dante were lonely before they met each other. Aristotle is a loner and Dante is considered weird but extremely intelligent.The entire book takes place from Aristotle's perspective. They meet and become friends in spite of being polar opposites.I can feel the passage of time in this book. The quickness with which things change. The first half of the book takes place during a summer vacation. It is a hard summer for both of them as they learn and grow from one another.The second half of the book deals more with a coming of age story for the both of them as they experience life's many firsts, as they emotionally evolved and come to realize things about themselves.This book was so lyrical and poetic. It was such a journey from beginning to end and it was both tender and truthful in it's exploration of growth.I think this was only not a five star read for me because it was so hyped up. It was still a wonderful book, but sometimes you can never reach the level of dreams in real life.
