BOYFRIENDS WITH GIRLFRIENDS
While Sergio is attracted to both girls and guys, he’s only dated girls before. Lance has always known he’s gay, but he’s never had a serious boyfriend. When they meet, there’s an instant sizzle, and they know that they’ve got something special. But will it be enough to overcome their differences?
Allie has been into guys her whole life, and she’s been in a relationship with her boyfriend, Chip, for two years. But when she meets Kimiko, despite everything she thinks she knows about her own sexuality, she realizes she’s falling for her—hard. And Kimiko has been crushing on Allie since the moment they met, but it’s impossible for her to believe that a bombshell like Allie could be interested in her. Can they find their way together to a relationship?
Lambda Literary Award–winning author Alex Sanchez introduces readers to four very real teens who are
trying to find their places in the world—and with one another.
Honors and Awards:
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American Library Assn "Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers"
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American Library Assn "Rainbow List"
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Bankstreet College of Education Children's Book Committee 2012 Best Children's Books of the Year
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Lambda Literary Award 2011 Finalist
Read the praise (warning: reviews contain "spoilers"):
from Booklist (starred review!): "After meeting online, Sergio and Lance make a date to get together in person, bringing along their respective best friends, Kimiko and Allie. The first meeting is sweetly awkward, and while the boys hit it off all right, there’s a problem. Sergio is bisexual, and Lance isn’t sure he can handle that or whether he even believes it is possible to be attracted to both boys and girls. Actually, there are two problems. Kimiko is a lesbian and crushes on Allie who, though she has a devoted boyfriend, is questioning and finds herself increasingly attracted to her new friend. How will these four engaging kids resolve the mixed messages their hearts are sending to their brains? Leave it to Lambda Literary Award–winner Sanchez (for So Hard to Say, 2004) to sort it all out. In the process, he’s written another innovative, important book that explores, with empathy and sympathy, largely ignored aspects of teen sexual identity. While lip service is routinely given to these aspects in the acronym GLBTQ, there have been only a handful of novels that so plausibly and dramatically bring the nature of bisexuality and sexual questioning to life. Sanchez does both, and in the process establishes welcome possibilities for other authors to explore."
from Kirkus: "A breezy romantic comedy starring two pairs of LGBTQ teens stays pleasantly upbeat... Lance has a date to meet Sergio. Lance brings his friend Allie. Sergio brings his friend Kimiko, and two sets of crushes ignite. Lance is anxious about Sergio's being bi. Sergio worries that Lance is too clingy. Kimiko fears that Allie is out of her league. Allie has a boyfriend but wonders if she might be bi... and falling for Kimiko. ...the four teens flirt, gossip and brood... Amid the giddy energy a few serious issues arise. Lance comes to understand his own biphobia; two teens struggle with homophobic parents; the boys (but not the girls) work to decide and agree upon how fast to move sexually. ...readers ... will enthusiastically root for both couples."
from The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books: “The carefully multicultural cast and representation across the GLBTQ spectrum make this an important book to add.