News Archive

Good Reads

Books we're reading at the station and recommend to you.When we're not on-the-air or at our desks, we like to pick up good books. Most of us here at the station are, in fact, avid readers. In the style of NPR's "What We're Reading" (an excellent weekly guide) we, too, decided to share what we've been reading. Here's a list of books recently read by WKMS staff members, student workers and volunteers.Interested in a book on our list? Follow the Amazon link beneath the picture. A small percentage of your purchase of anything on Amazon through this link goes right to WKMS at no additional cost to you!

Good Read: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

WKMS | By Katherine Farmer

Published May 24, 2013 at 1:12 PM CDT

Age Range: 12 and up

We continue our occasional series previewing good reads for young adults from Katherine Farmer, Coordinator of the Racers Children's Preview Collection at Murray State University. This week's recommended read is Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, by Benjamin Saenz, winner of the 2013 Stonewall Book Award, Printz Honor, YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults, and PuraBelpre Author Award. It's a lyricalnovel about family and friendship that critics and readers have called "tender, thought provoking, and breathtaking."

Have you ever met someone who was always distant and never quite felt like they fit in? That is fifteen year old Aristotle or 'Ari' in the 2013 Printz Honor Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Saenz. In all the years of his life, he had never had a friend. No one that he could confide in and tell his secrets, especially about his older brother in prison that no one mentions.

That was until he met Dante in the summer of 1987 in El Paso, TX. Dante was everything that Ari was not, well-versed and confident in who he is. Their friendship started with Dante’s offer to teach Ari to swim and as the summer passes, Ari’s world changes when he begins to develop a trust with Dante in which he can discuss life, art, literature, and their Mexican-American Culture.

Dante’s world and identity challenges Ari in ways he never considered before. In this coming of age story, Ari learns about the challenges of friendship, the process of finding his own identity, and sexuality. To find out more about Ari’s story read Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Saenz.