Simon VS. The Homosapiens Agenda
Author: Becky Albertalli
Genre: Young adult contemporary romance
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Published: April 7th, 2015
Pages: 303
My Rating: ★★★★
Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised. With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met. 
A young boy who struggles to come out.
Last night I finished reading Simon VS. The Homosapiens agenda with a warm heart. When I heard the movie was coming out I knew I had to get my hands on the novel first before going to see the film. I have wanted to read Becky Albertalli for a long time because so many people rave about her writing. So what better moment than to make this my first novel I read by her. Let me tell you I was not disappointed. Even though from the very beginning I predicted who his so-called admirer "Blue" was... I was very much engaged in the whole novel.

 Simon grew as a character from start to finish and learns to not be ashamed of who he is. I loved all the characters and became very close to them. It's been a while where I have truly cared about every single character in a book and what happens to them. I truly believe everyone needs to read this book. It handles coming out very well and the struggles teens face. This was a very important story to be told and left my heart feeling very giddy from start to finish. I can't wait to pick up more books by the author. 

Now, I want to run to the movie theater to see if the movie lives up to the book. This beautiful story gets 4 stars from me. The only reason I didn't give it a 5 star is because it was sort of predictable and I knew right away who Blue was without reading any spoilers beforehand. I guess I just read authors/mysteries well.
Book Depository 
 
Becky Albertalli is the author of the acclaimed novels Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (film: Love, Simon), The Upside of Unrequited, and Leah on the Offbeat. She is also the co-author of What If It's Us with Adam Silvera. A former clinical psychologist who specialized in working with children and teens, Becky lives with her family in Atlanta. You can visit her online at www.beckyalbertalli.com.