SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA

SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA is one of the Best Books of 2015!

Publisher’s Weekly chose SIMON as one of their Best Books of 2015.

SIMON was also one of Amazon’s Best YA Books of 2015.

It was also chosen by Kirkus as one of the Best Books of 2015. Kirkus also named SIMON the ‘Most Adorable’ YA Book of 2015.

The Independent included SIMON in their list of the 10 Best Young Adult Books.

Paste Magazine called SIMON one of the 30 Best YA Books of 2015. They said, “Pick it up for a quirky, touching read that will warm your heart.”

The B&N Teen Blog also called SIMON one of the Best YA Books of 2015.

SIMON was one of Booklist’s Top 10 Romances for Youth in 2015.

Buzzfeed called SIMON one of the Best YA Books of 2015.

The New York Public Library chose SIMON as one of the Top 10 Favorite Books for Teens in 2015.

It was also called one of the Best Children’s Books of 2015 by The Guardian.

SIMON was named one of Bustle’s Best YA Books of 2015.

PopCrush chose SIMON as one of the Best Young Adult Books of 2015 as well.

  

Foreign Publishers of Becky Albertalli include:

Brazil: Intrinseca

Germany: Carlsen

UK: Puffin Books

France: Hachette Romans

Italy: Mondadori Ragazzi

Israel: Matar Publishing

Spain: Urano

Turkey: Pegasus Yayincilik

The Netherlands: Blossom Books

Taiwan: Global

Sweden: Rabén & Sjӧgren

Hungary: Libri

Czech Republic: Euromedia

Poland: Papierowy Ksiezyc

Indonesia: Spring/Haru

Korea: Dolbegae Publishers

Denmark: Rosinante

Vietnam: 1980Books

Japan: Iwanami Shoten

Norway: Kagge Forlag

Finland: Otava

China: Sunshine Media

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

Agent: Brooks Sherman

Genre: Young Adult

Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins, April 2015. North American.

Film/TV: Fox 2000.

UK/Commonwealth: Puffin. Germany: Carlsen. Brazil:Intrinseca. France: Hachette Romans. Italy: Mondadori Ragazzi. Israel: Matar Publishing House. Spain: Urano.Turkey: Pegasus Yayincilik. Netherlands: Blossom Books.Taiwan: Global. Sweden: Rabén & Sjӧgren. Hungary: Libri.Czech Republic: Euromedia. Poland: Papierowy Ksiezyc.Indonesia: Spring/Haru. Korea: Dolbegae Publishers.Denmark: Rosinante. Vietnam: 1980Books. Japan: Iwanami Shoten. Norway: Kagge Forlag. Finland: Otava. China: Sunshine Media.

Finished books available. 

Longlisted for the National Book Award

A Morris YA Debut Award Finalist

Nominated for the Carnegie Medal

One of Publisher's Weekly's Best Books of 2015

                                               

Simon’s story is a journey toward self-acceptance wrapped in a geek romance: imagine an updated You've Got Mail starring gay teenage boys with good grammar, with the addictive nature of Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins.

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email from his secret Gmail account falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn't play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse still, so will the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he's been emailing with.

With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

  

“I love you, SIMON. I LOVE YOU! And I love this fresh, funny, live-out-loud book”

— Jennifer Niven, bestselling author of All the Bright Places

“Adults who read this coming-out/coming-of-age novel will probably wish it had been around when they were kids. But really, it’s so of-the-moment it couldn’t have been written any earlier. Teens may be grappling with sexuality at a time when gay marriage is legal in most states, but that doesn’t make their struggles less real. Simon Spier, a 16-year-old Harry Potter fanatic, is goaded out of the closet after a classmate discovers his emails to a pen pal. Albertalli paints a stunningly three-dimensional, cliche-free world for Simon that bursts with unforgettable characters. Savor it, because you’ll read it for the first time only once. Worthy of Fault in Our Stars-level obsession.”—Entertainment Weekly

“Are we absolutely certain that Becky Albertalli didn’t just steal the diary of a hilariously observant teenage boy? Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda is a pitch-perfect triumph of wit and wordplay that feels timelessly, effortlessly now.” —Tim Federle, author of Better Nate Than Ever(NYT Notable Book of the Year, Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year & Slate Favorite Book of the Year)

“Simon's social landscape is carefully and seemingly effortlessly drawn. Through light and often humorous detail, readers see clearly not only each individual character, but also the complex set of group dynamics at play in Simon's loving family and circle of friends. While Simon is focused on Blue, other characters go on journeys of their own, and the author is careful not only to wrap up Simon's story, but to draw attention to the stories the romance plot might overshadow in lesser hands. Funny, moving and emotionally wise.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“The threat of being outed by Martin forces Simon to come to terms with his sexuality, and his wise insights—Why do only gay people have to come out? Why is that the default?—Add heft to a plot that is both hilarious and heartbreaking. Debut novelist Albertalli writes believable in the voice of a confused, openhearted 16-year-old. The large cast of companionable and well-developed characters contains a heroic drama teacher and Simon’s embarrassing but well-meaning parents. Page-turning tension comes from the anonymous quality of Simon’s emails with Blue which are interspersed with chapters written in Simon’s first-person voice that chronicle Simon’s increasing frustration with Blue’s reluctance to divulge his identity, as well as the depending nature of the boys’ relationship.  Blue may hesitate, but readers will fall madly in love with Simon.”—Publisher’s Weekly, starred review

“This YA is a love story with the fine threads of mystery and suspense behind the plot about secret identities. Albertalli allows the drama to unfold naturally and without inhibition. The cast of characters is in tune with each other like true friends, real friendships. That sense of realism throughout the story makes Simon's journey more poignant. I truly liked him and wished him well, because that's how real he feels. Thanks, Becky, for an awesome lesson on Young Adult life.”—USA Today

“Albertalli’s sensitive, incisive novel expertly gets at the complexity of identity, the difficulty of change, and the importance of growth.” —Booklist, starred review

“Not since Levithan’s Boy Meets Boy have readers been treated to such a happy sigh of a book about two boys falling in love.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, starred review

More about Becky Albertalli:

Becky Albertalli is a clinical psychologist who has had the privilege of conducting therapy with dozens of smart, weird, irresistible teenagers. She also served for seven years as co-leader of a support group for gender nonconforming children in Washington, D.C