So Hard To Say - Hardcover

Sanchez, Alex

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0689865643 ISBN 13: 9780689865640

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2004

Synopsis

Thirteen-year-old Xio, a Mexican American girl, and Frederick, who has just moved to California from Wisconsin, quickly become close friends, but when Xio starts thinking of Frederick as her boyfriend, he must confront his feelings of confusion and face the fear that he might be gay.

About this title

Review:

Frederick, 13, is the new kid; Xio is an astrology-obsessed, spirited, Hispanic girl in his new class. She and her friends adopt Frederick-mostly because Xio thinks he's really cute. Frederick, despite his asthma, starts playing soccer with the Hispanic boys, the counterparts of Xio and her girlfriends. Xio wants to date Frederick, but he's not sure he feels the same way; he's not sure he likes girls that way. He's never thought about it before, but the more time he spends with Victor, the leader of the soccer boys, the more Frederick realizes that he might feel about boys the way most boys feel about girls. The truth comes out privately and, after a rough patch, all remain friends. Sanchez, whose first two titles were for YA, writes for a younger audience quite convincingly. Xio and Frederick alternate chapters to tell their story and their voices are distinct and believable. As with his previous efforts, the prose style is serviceable and coincidence helps tie things up neatly, but many young teens, gay and straight, will see themselves and their friends in these characters. (Fiction. 10-14) (Kirkus Reviews)

About the Author:

Alex Sanchez spent almost fifteen years working with youth. He is the author of the teen novels Boyfriends with Girlfriends, Bait, The God Box, Getting It, Rainbow Boys, Rainbow High, and Rainbow Road, as well as the Lambda Award-winning middle-grade novel So Hard to Say. Lambda Literary Foundation honored Alex with an Outstanding Mid-Career Novelists' Prize. He lives in Thailand and Hollywood, Florida. Visit him at AlexSanchez.com.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0689865643
• ISBN 13: 9780689865640
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 230