Tell Me Tuesday-A List of Cages and The Inexplicable Logic of my Life

Tell Me Tuesday is a weekly blog post put on by La La in the Library.  It is where we discuss what books we have been reading and why.

What I Read Last

Wow! Wow! Wow! This book was so beautiful and amazing. Mr. Saenz has done it again. I loved every one of his characters. They are so real and raw and honest. Also, the imagery was superb and the writing lyrical. “You saw me. You’ve always seen me. And I think that’s all that anyone wants…Seeing someone. Really seeing someone. That’s love.” This book, I believe, is about family and love. The overriding theme is that families can look like anything and in this case it ends up being three seventeen year olds and a single gay man. The three teenagers, Samantha, Salvador, and Fito have all had a rough start in life. Fito is homeless and Samantha is living in a bad situation so Salvador’s dad takes them in. Salvador is dealing with his Grandma’s cancer diagnosis and bullying at school because his dad is gay. “Some people were just born into the wrong family or adopted by the wrong family, or they were born with something broken inside them. There wasn’t anything broken inside my dad, even though some people thought there was because he was gay. But those people were wrong. They didn’t know him.” This coming of age story pulls at the heart strings and focuses on the fact that you don’t need the same DNA or a legal document to be a part of a family. Love is what makes a family.

This book totally blew me away. There were times I had to just stop and put it down because it was so good.  This debut book will break your heart and punch you in the gut.  It is beautifully written about a topic that is so important to be aware of.  With that being said, I would recommend this book for older teens since there are some graphic parts that involve physical abuse.  Many years ago, Adam and Julian used to be foster brothers until Julian’s uncle takes him away to live with him.  The boys are reunited in high school.  Adam can tell right away that Julian is not the same kid he was and so he takes him under his wing.  I think these are some of my favorite scenes in the book;  Adam, a senior, helping a freshman from being bullied by including him in his group of friends.  The last third of this book is so shocking and I couldn’t put it down.  I highly recommend this amazing book of perseverance and forgiveness.