Am Reading - Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

I LOVE this book and thought I'd take the chance for a reread...

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda - Creekwood #1 
by Becky Albertalli 

What they say: 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.

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When Publishers Get it Right - Penguin Pride Book Club Read-a-long

We're quick to contemn big companies when they do something wrong, but often don't praise them when they get something right! 

I've taken part in many read-a-longs over the years, with all kinds of themes including one with hot men on the cover (don't judge), but I've never taken part in a LGBTQ read-a-long. With LGBTQ being such a growing market in YA fiction, Penguin Platform could be accused of jumping on the bandwagon to increase sales, but after looking into all of the chosen books, I really don't think they are. 

I'm proudly displaying my pride flag and am hoping to read some wonderful YA stories about inclusion and positive representation. 

Penguin Platform, I salute you!

Check out the Pride Book Club page here!

First up is The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth 

When Cameron Post's parents die suddenly in a car crash, her shocking first thought is relief. Relief they'll never know that, hours earlier, she had been kissing a girl.

But that relief doesn't last, and Cam is forced to move in with her conservative aunt Ruth and her well-intentioned but hopelessly old-fashioned grandmother. She knows that from this point on, her life will forever be different. Survival in Miles City, Montana, means blending in and leaving well enough alone, and Cam becomes an expert at both.

Then Coley Taylor moves to town. Beautiful, pickup-driving Coley is a perfect cowgirl with the perfect boyfriend to match. She and Cam forge an unexpected and intense friendship, one that seems to leave room for something more to emerge. But just as that starts to seem like a real possibility, ultrareligious Aunt Ruth takes drastic action to "fix" her niece, bringing Cam face-to-face with the cost of denying her true self-even if she's not quite sure who that is.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post is a stunning and unforgettable literary debut about discovering who you are and finding the courage to live life according to your own rules.

Book one - 4th - 17th June

#PrideBookClub