Everyone is falling for the queer love story of ‘Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe’
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe hit theaters, offering readers of queer YA lit another chance to see the beloved book characters on screen.Released in 2012, Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe follows its two title characters—Mexican-American teens growing up in 1980s El Paso—as they bond over their outsider status and forge a life-changing friendship. “And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be,” publisher Simon & Schuster adds.The Stonewall Book Award-winning novel came out not long after Sáenz did, at age 54. “Some boys just know they’re gay,” the writer told NPR’s Tell Me More in 2013. “I don’t know how that happens.
And I think other boys don’t know, and then they start discovering that. And that’s the book.”Then, in 2021, came the news that a film adaptation was in production, with Max Pelayo and Reese Gonzales in the lead roles, Eugenio Derbez and Eva Longoria in supporting parts, Aitch Alberto serving as screenwriter and director, and Lin-Manuel Miranda—who narrated the audiobook—on board as a producer.“I really wanted to make something that was nuanced, that wasn’t rooted in what we often see when it comes to Latin stories and queer stories,” Albert told Teen Vogue in a recent interview. “It’s having a fresh approach [that] isn’t solely fueled by identity, but more so all the other things that give us the perspective that we have.
We’ve seen so many stories about Latinidad and the Latin community in a way that feels really violent and redundant, and I think it’s because often our stories are not told by us.
I just really wanted to give people a different option.”A day after the news of the adaptation, Simon & Schuster released Sáenz’s long-awaited sequel, Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World.
