(Steeplechase + BWF) Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Saenz - 4 stars

[Ellen]

Senior year of high school presents many challenges for young people and Aristotle and Dante have a few extra. They fell in love over the summer and have become a couple, accepted by their families and their best friends but they keep their relationship hidden from general society. Dante has always been easygoing and sure of himself where Ari was most comfortable being alone. Ari has learned to embrace friendship wherever he finds it and his life has become much richer for it. A tragedy in Ari's family forces Ari to face an uncertain future especially as he knows he will soon be parted from his support group of friends as they all head off to various colleges. Although Dante and Ari believe that they will always love one another they realize that it just might be unrealistic that they will have a long-lasting relationship considering how young they both are. They both know that their friendship has been a defining moment in their lives.

Once again I listened to the audio by the talented Lin-Manuel Miranda. This is a great sequel to the first novel and although it seems like this has a certain finality to it, I sure would like another book.