Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Aristotle "Ari" Mendoza is a fifteen-year-old loner in 1987 El Paso who has never had a friend, until he meets Dante Quintana at the local swimming pool. Over two summers the boys grow inseparable, swapping books, ideas, and confessions while each works through questions about family, identity, and the things they cannot yet name. Told in Ari's spare, watchful voice, the novel follows the friendship as it deepens and the slow, careful way both boys come to understand themselves.