Author: Bill Konigsberg
What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Ben is moving on after last semester. He's excelling at schoolwork, acting as the captain of the baseball team, and starting a relationship with Hannah, a cool quirky girl he met in the library. He is even awarded a prestigious scholarship (if he can keep his grade up in calculus!). But Ben is not sure that he has all the answers, and cannot stop thinking about and missing the close friendship he had with Rafe.
What I think (in 250 words or fewer): The tagline is a line from Michael Jackson's "Ben," which has been recorded by lots of people. The review contains spoilers, but I tried to be as vague as possible.
After the events in Openly Straight, Ben finds himself without any close friends. Sure, he hangs out with people from the baseball team, but they are not the close friendship he had with Rafe, whom he can't stop thinking about.
Ben considers himself straight and very much does NOT want to be called gay or bisexual. Ben desperately wants to restore that close friendship with Rafe, but neither of them can deny the romantic feelings they still have for each other.
Ben continues to put more pressure on himself to be perfect and makes a very bad decision that very likely will cost him his scholarship. Ben is so introverted that I thought his public confession was out-of-character for him--it would have made more sense (but have been less dramatic) for him to talk to the headmaster in private.
Ben's father acts like a homophobic jerk, and Ben comes to the realization that he may never get validation from his father. Rafe's mother is just too overwhelming--it is possible for someone to identify as straight or "mostly" straight, until they meet a person they happen to be attracted to. I don't think that is bisexual invisibility.
I love Konigsberg's hilarious characters, thought-provoking stories, and the Toby came out as gender-fluid to his schoolmates. And Rafe's grandmother! What a hoot.
This book is on the 2018 Rainbow Book List.
My final takeaway: Even though the first and last chapters of this book acted as bookends and made this story seem very complete, I still can't let these characters go. I want to read more about them.
Dear Bill Konigsberg: The Adventures of Toby and Albie. Make this happen. 😊
My favorite quotes:
- "There's something delightful about the idea of dressing up for dinner and sitting in assigned seats in the dining hall, like back in the days of yore, or at Hogwarts. We'd sit in neat rows in high-backed wooden chairs, we'd speak in low, polite voices about the days doings while proctors walked by taking attendance, and everyone would dab the corners of their mouths with cloth napkins" (hardback edition, pg. 37).
- "I was thinking that maybe the key to life is to have goldfish memories. So you can't remember the time a friend hurt you. So you can give second and third and even fourth chances. To yourself too. Because sometimes it takes multiple chances to get things fully right, to put your universe in order" (pg. 183).
- "Okay, you see, most people in the world take paths that are expected. They go to school, get a job, get married, have kids. Then there are the rest of us. We're on left-handed paths. It's not what's expected. The world would like it better if we didn't take these paths, because the world doesn't know what to do with people who buck the system, or explore things that are new" (pg. 194).
- "'Can I be cereal for a second?'
'I don't think so . . . I think you can either be a shape-shifter and turn into cereal forever, or you will need to remain in your current form. Those are your choices'" (pg. 249).
Other reviews: Kirkus and Reader's Boulevard
This book is available in the Greensboro Public Library.
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