Picture drawn by Maggie Stiefvater, 2009. Header made by S.F. Robertson, 2010.

Monday, March 20, 2017

Our Own Private Universe by Robin Talley

Our Own Private Universe
"Fifteen-year-old Aki Simon has a theory. And it's mostly about sex.

No, it isn't that kind of theory. Aki already knows she's bisexual—even if, until now, it's mostly been in the hypothetical sense. Aki has dated only guys so far, and her best friend, Lori, is the only person who knows she likes girls, too.

Actually, Aki's theory is that she's got only one shot at living an interesting life—and that means she's got to stop sitting around and thinking so much. It's time for her to actually do something. Or at least try.

So when Aki and Lori set off on a church youth-group trip to a small Mexican town for the summer and Aki meets Christa—slightly older, far more experienced—it seems her theory is prime for the testing.

But it's not going to be easy. For one thing, how exactly do two girls have sex, anyway? And more important, how can you tell if you're in love? It's going to be a summer of testing theories—and the result may just be love."- summary from Amazon

In a little over two years, Talley has become one of my go-to authors- her books are compelling, inclusive, and simply amazing. I particularly enjoyed this one because it was from the point of view of a bisexual (which I don't see often enough) and dealing with new experiences, like falling in love with a girl, who is also bisexual, on her church's aid mission to a little town in Mexico. Aki's journey through the book is extremely relateable regardless of orientation- falling in love is a universal feeling and the all-encompassing nature of first loves is known to all. Talley does a great job highlighting all aspects of a person's life- while the love definitely takes center stage, there's a lot of the book that deals with her family relationships (including coming out to her minister father) and her friendship with her BFF Lori. This is a book worth checking out so go out and get it, and then read Talley's other books if you haven't already!

FTC: Received ARC from Media Masters Publicity. Link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.