BookPage Teen Top Pick, March 2017
Set in the modern-day border town of El Paso, Texas, The Inexplicable Logic of My Life boldly shows the resilient humanity of three high school seniors—sharing their confusions, heartbreaks and thoughtfulness—as they grow to learn that “normal” is a term with far more than one definition.
Salvador is the caring, adopted, white son of an unmarried -Mexican-American man—a famous artist who is openly gay in a Southern town. Samantha is the sassy and smart Mexican-American girl from down the street whom Sal has loved as a sister for as long as he can remember. But Sam’s mother drinks too much, falls in love with the wrong kind of men and fights viciously with her daughter nearly every day. Fito is the gay kid at school who’s determined to graduate, save enough money to go to college and move away. He’s one of the smartest, kindest and hardest working kids at school, but he has never realized it because his drug-addicted mother and abusive family would never let him believe it.
As life toys with Sal, Sam and Fito throughout their senior year, they learn to lean on one another, pick up the pieces and face the world again—and that just might be enough for them to make it through and build a “normal” that’s all their own.
Following his multiple award-winning Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s fifth YA novel is yet another outstanding work of literature in a lauded career. In this noble portrait of a group of friends and their questioning minds, Sáenz has crafted characters so memorable that they’ll remain with you—and inspire you—for a lifetime.
ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read a Q&A with Benjamin Alire Sáenz for The Inexplicable Logic of My Life.
Justin Barisich is a freelancer, satirist, poet and performer living in Atlanta. More of his writing can be found at littlewritingman.com.
This article was originally published in the March 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.
