Review: OPENLY STRAIGHT by Bill Konigsberg

All Rafe wanted was to be himself.  Except sometimes being himself comes with all these labels and pigeonholes.  Which is why this proud gay kid, son of the president of the local PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) president, is going back in the closet.

Arthur A. Levine Books, May 2013.

His best friend Claire Olivia and his parents don’t know that this is the plan when he moves across the country to attend a New England boarding school, leaving liberal Boulder behind.  He isn’t going to tell anyone that he’s gay.  He moves in with his room mate, joins the soccer team, and pretends to be just one of the guys.  Except, in Rafe’s mind, he is just one of the guys.  And for once in his life, he’s not “the gay kid.” This experiment get difficult, though, when his new best friend turns out to be so, well, hot.  And when Rafe and Ben’s bromance looks like maybe it could be something more, it’s impossible for him to know what to do.  His lies have been piling up and he’s backed into a corner.

OPENLY STRAIGHT by Bill Konigsberg is as hilarious as it is poignant.  The relationships are honest and real, and the struggles Rafe encounters are relatable for not only gay readers, but readers who have ever faced being labelled…which is pretty much everyone.  This is a book that I’d like to see in every library, and I’d like to think we’ll see a few shiny stickers on it in the near future.