Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

Author:  Becky Albertalli

Publish Date:  2015

Links: Goodreads

Summary without spoilers:

Simon is a junior in high school who has never told anyone he's gay.  He strikes up on an online anonymous correspondence with another gay junior at his high school that calls himself "Blue" in the emails, and they develop feelings for each other.  Simon's correspondence is discovered by Martin, another junior at his school, and Martin threatens to out Simon if he doesn't help Martin romantically with Simon's friend Abby.  Will Simon be outed?  Will Simon and Blue meet in real life and become boyfriends?

Summary with spoilers:

Simon is a gay high school junior in Atlanta who has yet to come out to anyone.  He meets another junior from his high school who's also gay on an anonymous Tumblr page used by students at their school.  Over multiple months, Simon and "Blue" exchange emails using pseudonyms and start to develop feelings for each other.  Another junior, Martin, ends up seeing Simon's emails and tells Simon that he'll out him unless Simon helps Martin in his romantic pursuit of one of Simon's close friends.  Dissatisfied with his efforts, Martin outs Simon on the Tumblr page.  While Simon deals with the consequences of being outed, Blue, not ready to be openly gay, stops their correspondence.  But he rethinks his choice and Simon and Blue become boyfriends.

Race:

(spoiler) Simon is white, Blue is described as black (light-skinned)  and half-Jewish

Appearance:

Simon is described as cute, but rather short. Blue is described as really cute.  

Sexuality/Gender Identity:

Both Simon and Blue are cis gay guys

Gender Expression:

In a section where Simon is describing his childhood to the reader, he talks about being "secure in his masculinity," although he does remember that putting on women's clothing when he was younger gave him a sense of exhilaration.   Generally, the impression is that Simon is not perceived to be gay prior to being out, although he's also not part of social circle involved in more stereotypically masculine pursuits (e.g., sports).  He's in the school musical, two of his four best friends are girls, and he listens to music that also doesn't read particularly masculine (Elliott Smith, Sufjan Stevens).

(spoiler) Blue plays soccer 

Coming Out:

Simon is outed by Martin, a fellow junior, on an anonymous Tumblr feed that many, but not all, students at his high school use.  Simon's friends and sister see the post.  His sister reports it and it's taken down a few days later.  Simon experiences some homophobic events, although nothing direct or violent.  He comes out to his parents and older sister during a conversation, and they're all supportive of him.

Other notable points

The movie "Love, Simon" is based on this book