Boyfriends With Girlfriends

The Bibliography
Sanchez, Alex. 2011. Boyfriends With Girlfriends. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781416937739

The Characters
Lance, Allie, Sergio and Kimiko are the main characters of Boyfriends With Girlfriends. They each have a different sexual orientation, but SURPRISE, they're normal teens! (That was sarcasm. Of course they're normal!)

The Plot
Lance has never had a serious boyfriend. Sergio has had relationships with boys and girls. Kimiko likes girls, but hasn't found a way to tell her family that she's a lesbian. Allie's been dating Chip for a long time, but now she doesn't love him anymore, but she feels a strong pull toward Kimiko. They all have questions about their lives and relationships, but develop strong ones with each other after figuring themselves out first.

The Setting
Smalltown America
Setting a book like this, with all the different sexual orientations of the characters, in a Smalltown, America, nondescript sort of place lets teens know that if they're thinking these things and having these questions, chances are, someone else is, too. It's not just big city teens, it's teens in every neighborhood.

The Theme
figuring out just who you are, and being okay with it
That's the only way teens will survive. You have to love and accept yourself first before everyone else will.

The Style
third person subjective
The reader knows just what each character is thinking... almost to the point of wanting to shake the book and scream "YES, SERGIO!! LANCE LIKES YOU! CALL HIM BACK!!!" and/or "YES, LANCE!! SERGIO LIKES YOU! CALL HIM BACK!!!" and/or "KIMIKO, STOP SAYING 'DUDE'!"

The Strengths and Weaknesses
Boyfriends With Girlfriends is a sweet story of figuring out just who you are. It has a positive message and could be helpful for teens that are LGBTQIA, most especially the B and Q parts. And it's multicultural! A definite plus!

Those are the superficial strengths of the book. It has a great message and it's warm and fuzzy, but the characters are SO stereotypical and it bothers me. Definite weakness. Not all gay boys sing show tunes like Lance does on nearly every page. Not all lesbians wear motorcycle jackets and say dude like Kimiko does on nearly every page. It's not always so obvious to tell the sexual orientation of people, but this book makes it seem so. It's a little too much.

The Favorite Lines
"Why am I such a sex wuss?" (115) Lance to Allie about chickening out while making out with Sergio.

The Review
Michael Cart (Booklist, Mar. 1, 2011 (Vol. 107, No. 13))
Starred Review* ... 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.

The Connection
Alex Sanchez shares a positive message in all of his books. Sharing any of them with teens that approach you as LGBTQIA would surely help them. Even beginning an LGBTQIA club would be good, especially at a public library, but then you might not want to advertise that fact since some of the teens might not be comfortable with themselves yet. It's a delicate balance, but at least being there for all teens and letting them know the library is a safe place for them and will make them feel better, no matter what.