History Literature / AristotleAndDanteDiscoverTheSecretsOfTheUniverse

The book was nominated for a Printz Award in 2013. A sequel, ''Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World'', was released in October 2021. A film adaptation starring newcomers Max Pelayo and Reese Gonzales as the respective titular characters premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.

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* DoesNotLikeShoes: A noted trait of Dante's, finding the most implausible of excuses to get rid of his shoes and go around either in socks or barefoot.

* ParentsAsPeople: Ari loves and hates his parents. While he acknowledges they're providing and loving, they're also distant in certain ways, his father in particular has a hard time communicating with him, due to PTSD from Vietnam, despite Ari wanting to learn more about him. His mother is also thhe main emotional support Ari has in his life, but he hates that she acts like his brother doesn't exists. [[spoiler:He eventually gets to mutually open up with them after learning how damaging Bernardo's sentencing hit the family.]]

* ShadowArchetype: [[spoiler:Although he doesn't appear, Bernardo is one to Ari. Both seem to be good people at heart, or at least Bernardo was at some point, but have deep anger issues that they don't deal with. Bernardo eventually committed two murders due to his complete lack of self-control, one of which was a tranvestite prostitute in a hate crime. Ari's anger is much more controlled, but there are many moments where it bubbles to the surface, with the specific moment where he attacks a man who attacked Dante bringing back bringing back memories of Bernardo to their mother. It's easy to interpret Bernardo as what Ari could have become without Dante.]]

* VisualDevelopment: Ari changes a lot during the middle of the novel. While Dante is in Chicago for almost a year, Ari takes on weight lifting and jogging, becoming toned over the course of the year.

* TheUnperson: One of the main conflicts of the story is how Ari's brother has been completely erased from the family's memories after he was arrested, with his parents and sisters refusing to talk about him. [[spoiler:He learns that it is not the shame, but rather the hurt that caused it, with his mom having a breakdown when Bernardo was arrested and couldn't bear to see him. Once that comes to the surface, they manage to talk about him, and slowly re-incorporate his memory into their lives.]]

* IOweYouMyLife: Dante after Ari saves him from [[spoiler: getting hit by a car.]]

* ShadowArchetype: [[spoiler:Although he doesn't appear, Bernardo is one to Ari. Both seem to be good people at heart, or at least Bernardo was at some point, but have deep anger issues that they don't deal with. Bernardo eventually committed two murders due to his complete lack of self-control, one of which was a tranvestite prostitute in a hate crime in a hate crime. Ari's anger is much more controlled, but there are many moments where it bubbles to the surface, with the specific moment where he attacks a man who attacked Ari bringing back bringing back memories of Bernardo to their mother. It's easy to interpret Bernardo as what Ari could have become without Dante.]]
* ShellShockedVeteran: Ari's father is a [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam War]] veteran who refuses to speak about his experience in the war and is clearly traumatized by it.

* AmbiguouslyBi: Considering that [[spoiler: Dante has said he only enjoys kissing girls when picturing them as boys, that he wants to marry a man, and that he'll never fall in love with a girl, he's probably completely gay. Ari, on the other hand, had a crush on Iliana. It doesn’t last that long though, and Ari’s orientations aren’t focused on that much. Ari doesn't express much sexual desire towards anyone, thinking and dreaming about kissing rather than anything sexual. With the exception of one or two comments, Ari could be interpreted as asexual and romantically attached to men, and possibly others.]]
* {{Angst}}: Ari's inner monologue is full of it.

* ItMeantSomethingToMe: Dante about their TestKiss.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: The reason for Bernardo's imprisonment is revealed to be because [[spoiler: he murdered a prostitute this way.]]

* StraightGay: Ari.

The book was nominated for a Printz Award in 2013. A sequel, ''Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World'', was released in October 2021. A film adaptation starring newcomers Max Pelayo and Reese Gonzales as the respective titular characters is in development.

The book was nominated for a Printz Award in 2013. A sequel, ''Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World'', will be released in October 2021. A film adaptation is in development.

* OutnumberedSibling: With his brother out of the picture, Ari is basically the only boy in his family. He hates it when his much older sisters get together and gossip about him like he's not there, then gets in trouble when he tries to call them out on it.

The book was nominated for a Printz Award in 2013. A sequel, ''Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World'', will be released in October 2021.

The book was nominated for a Printz Award in 2013.

* AmbiguouslyBi: Considering that [[spoiler: Dante has said he only enjoys kissing girls when picturing them as boys, that he wants to marry a man, and that he'll never fall in love with a girl, he's probably completely gay. Ari, on the other hand, had a crush on Ileana. This crush didn't go beyond casual flirting and mild kissing, however, so it's hard to say how much of it was real. Ari doesn't express much sexual desire towards men, either, thinking and dreaming about kissing rather than anything sexual. With the exception of one or two comments, Ari could even be interpreted as homo/bi-romantic asexual.]]

* IOweYouMyLife: Dante after Ari saves him from [[spoiler getting hit by a car.]]
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