Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Aristotle and Dante Book One)

Author: Benjamin Alire Saenz

Published: February 2012

Pages: 359

Fifteen year olds Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza and Dante Quintana of El Paso, Texas are named after classical philosophers. But their parallels stop there. Dante has fair skin. Ari does not. Dante has a myriad of friends. Ari does not. Dante has an open disposition. Ari is reserved in every respect—his father, tormented by memories of his soldierdom, is ever-distant, and his family is detaching themselves from his older brother, imprisoned for a violent crime that seemingly only Ari wants to know more about. Dante is self-certain and he talks like it. Ari’s perception of himself is precarious and it shows in his composure. Dante gets lost in poetry. Ari gets lost in his own deprecating thoughts. Dante can swim. Ari can’t. And Dante would like to teach him. A swimming pool friendship becomes so much more than. One boy will learn a backstroke, but from each other, both will learn truths about themselves, their lives, and love.