Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli is available to children ages 12-18 in the Lakeshore Middle School and Grand Haven High School Libraries.
Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli tells the story of Simon, a teenager struggling to come to terms with his homosexuality. Simon meets Blue, his boyfriend on-line. Blue is the only person who knows Simon is gay until Martin reads Simon’s emails. The book centers on Martin’s blackmail of Simon, Simon’s online relationship with Blue and Simon’s thoughts and actions about telling his friends and family he is gay. Although I don’t believe this book will greatly harm or disturb high school children, I would not recommend it to a friend or my child as I believe there are much better reading options available.
This book contains bullying, fowl language, and teen drinking. The sexual scenes are not very explicit, but the book does contain some. When the group of three teenagers visits a gay bar, at least one of the teenagers suffers consequences from his parents for getting drunk. The bully even ends up apologizing. Throughout the book, most of the characters treat each other respectfully and there are consequences for some bad behavior.
If a child is struggling with homosexuality this book could be helpful, but the entire plot centers around a teenager thinking about boys. I don’t feel the book will be extremely disturbing or harmful, but I do feel it contributes to the moral degradation of society, not because of the homosexual theme, but because of the bullying, fowl language and teen drinking, and I wouldn’t encourage children to read it.
Here are some pages/scenes that normalize undesirable behavior.
Vulgar Language
p. 158 – With this missive, I hereby declare that I am supremely gay and open for business. Interested parties may contact me directly to discuss arrangements for buttsex. Or blue-jobs. But don’t give me blue balls. Ladies need not apply.
p. 204 – But it turns out to be an impressively realistic manga-style drawing of our French teacher performing fellatio on a baguette. Speaking of something that reminds me of Blue.
p. 223 – She has no fucking idea….. Because you’ve had a weird ass day.
p. 225 – I can tell he feels kind of shitty about this.
p. 226 – I quite honestly don’t give a shit that it’s January.
Normalizes Transgenderism
p.20 – “How are Leo and Nicole?” my dad asks… switching Nicole and Leah’s gender
p. 63 – Wednesday is gender bender day, which basically amounts to southern straight people crossdressing.
Teen Drinking
p.42 – “So, what can I get you to drink?” Garrett asks
p. 44 – “All right – screwdrivers for the ladies.”
p. 45 – But they’re Nora’s age. I can’t believe they’re drinking.
p. 47 – Simon, how much did you drink?
p. 113 – It’s Friday night. In theory I could be out getting drunk.
p. 227 – Is this like a gay bar? I ask… Abby and Nick both grin…”okay,” I say
p. 229 – He’s very cute and I think he might be drunk.
p. 230 – But then Peter’s hand is on my arm again, and he hands me a shot glass filled with something bright orange.
P. 230 – Have you ever taken a shot before? … Tilt your head back and just….
p. 231 – He buys us each another Triaminic Shot and then he takes me by the hand and leads me to a big round table in the corner of the room…. And someone passes me a beer… Peter’s arm is right around my shoulder…
Going Against Parents
p. 223 – But my mom’s up in DC this weekend, meaning the house and car are mine. So you’re spending the night in Suso territory.
p. 295 (his sister set this up against the parents) – “Because she’s giving you two hours at home unsupervised.”
Normalizes Promiscuity
p. 21 – Slash fiction… Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy hooking up in thousands of ways in every broom closet at Hogwarts
p. 48 – People who go to parties and drink and don’t get wasted off of one beer. People who have had sex and don’t think it’s a huge deal.
p. 63 – Mr. Wise has this warped ratty couch in his classroom that smells a little like beer, and I’m pretty sure people sneak in here to have sex and rub their fluids all over it after school.
p. 79 – I also like to imagine you now fantasizing about sex.
p. 235 – “Simon I just watched you pick up a random guy in a gay bar. You’re wearing eyeliner. And you’re completely wasted.”
p. 285 – “What happened with your dad?”…”He hooked up with this hottie nineteen-year-old at his work. And then he left.”
Explicit Scenes
p. 81 – His tongue is in my mouth. His hands slide up under my shirt, and he trails his fingers across my chest.
p. 301 – And then I lean over and kiss him softly on the neck, just below his jaw. He turns to me and swallows….And somehow we end up horizontal, his hands curved up around my back….He pulls me in closer and kisses me urgently. And suddenly, I’m hard, and I know he is too…..Specifically, her Every Time Including Oral rule.
Simon vs the Homo Sapien Agenda is available to children in the GHAPS middle and high school libraries and does cover several controversial topics. For this reason alone, it should not be available to children in the school library.
According to GHAPS School Board Policy 2240 Controversial Issues
The Board will permit the introduction and proper educational use of controversial issues provided that their use in the instructional program:
A. is related to the instructional goals of the course of study and level of maturity of the students;
B. does not tend to indoctrinate or persuade students to a particular point of view;
C. encourages open-mindedness and is conducted in a spirit of scholarly inquiry.
What course’s instructional goals is this book meeting? It is very one sided and does tend to persuade students on many controversial viewpoints. This book covers several controversial topics, contains vulgar language, normalizes promiscuity, normalizes transgenderism, does not align with the goals of education and therefore, does not belong in the school libraries.