Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe #1)

by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

“Dante’s hero. Just what I always wanted to be.” “Don’t do that, Ari. Don’t make fun. You almost got yourself killed.” “I didn’t do it on purpose.” He started crying. Dante and his tears. Dante and his tears. “You pushed me. You pushed me and you saved my life.” “Looks like I pushed you and beat the crap out of your face.” “I’ve got character now,” he said. “It was that damned bird,” I said. “We can blame it all on the bird. The whole thing.” “I’m done with birds.” “No you’re not.” He started crying again. “Knock it off,” I said. “My mom’s been crying, and now you’re crying—and even Dad looks like he wants to cry. Rules. I have rules. No crying.” “Okay,” he said, “No more crying. Boys don’t cry.” “Boys don’t cry,” I said. “Tears make me really tired.” Dante laughed. And then he got really serious. “You took a dive like you were in a swimming pool.” “We don’t have to talk about this.” He just kept talking. “You dove at me, like, I don’t know, like some kind of football player diving at the guy with the ball, and you pushed me out of the way. It all happened so fast and yet, you just, I don’t know, you just knew what