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Tongues Untied
So Hard to Say by Alex Sanchez
Ye who has not written a children’s book raise
your right hand!
In the age of saturation–and shameless
saturation at that–there appears to be not a soul
left on planet Earth who has not penned a book
for children or young adults. From television
show hosts to pop music queens, and from B-
movie actors to rowdy political pundits, everyone
(particularly the celebrity circuit) has something
to say, a lesson to impart, an age to
memorialize. Can the success of J.K. Rowling
and her Harry Potter books have been so
effortlessly winning as to inspire an onslaught of
dollars-grabbing children’s literature on self-
acceptance, acceptance of others, stealing,
envy, greed, and lying, among other topics?
With much to vie for the attention of consumers
these day, and especially young adults (videos
and video games, the Internet, the fickle fashion
industry, the even more fickle music industry),
children’s lit has turned into a money chomping
machine of its own by turning books into films,
and films into a sea of endless merchandising. It
is of no amazement if one is left wondering if
there really are any substantive lessons being
imparted in all these books.
Then there arrives a work like Alex Sanchez’s So
Hard to Say, and all suspicions are immediately
pushed aside. Infectious from the very first
paragraph, the author of the highly successful
books Rainbow Boys and Rainbow High has
again struck gold with a story that is as original
and heartwarming as it is insightful and
heartbreaking.
At the plot’s center are two likeable
protagonists. Maria Xiomara Iris Juarez Hidalgo,
nicknamed Xio (pronounced C.O.), who is a Leo
(like Madonna), is also a plucky, feisty, and
funny thirteen year old Mexican-American.
Uniquely constructed, chatty Xio is a strong and
opinionated chica, who is also by turns insecure
and doubtful about the direction of her future.
She lives with her mother and younger brother,
and feels abandoned by a father who has left the
family under mysterious circumstances. On the
first day of class, she befriends–and immediately
develops a crush on–new student Frederick (not
Fred or Freddy or Rick or Ricky), who is a recent
Wisconsin transplant to California. They strike
up a fast friendship that has deeper implications
for Xio. Frederick, on the other hand, is a
thoughtful and deliberate fourteen year old, and
by turns himself insecure and trepidatious
regarding his choices in life. After all, he is
experiencing waves of strong emotions that
leads him to question his sexuality; he believes
he’s gay.
While this may sound like a simplistic story (girl
meets boy who wants boy), its masterful,
sensitive, and intricate execution delivers an
admirably satisfying book. Sanchez, a naturally
gifted writer who has been thrice nominated for a
Lambda Book Award, has also created
impressive characters who hold up mirrors to the
reader, yet are well drawn enough to be
individualistic.
Nearly everyone in So Hard to Say, particularly
the teen characters, act and react to everything
on two levels: intellectually and emotionally,
making them the most balanced constructions in
recent memory. Case in point: when heartthrob
Victor–Frederick’s soccer buddy–is confronted
with a rumor regarding Frederick’s sexuality, he
strokes his chin and insightfully ponders the
situation, despite his sometimes rowdy and
machismo behavior. When Xio is faced with hard
truths about her father, she acts out forcefully,
but then is adult enough to later sit and discuss
her feelings openly with her mother. Frederick’s
evolution is never more apparent than when
faced with a test: should he openly befriend the
handsomely dimpled Iggy, who everyone
believes is gay, and who gets very little respect
from anyone. Even family.
The skillful shifting between thought and
emotion, adolescence and maturity, light and
heavy moments, and even English and Spanish,
makes So Hard to Say easy to digest. Sanchez’s
ability to move the story along and tighten its
dramatic tension without resorting to
sensationalism is also remarkable. Everything–
and everyone–remains in the realm of
plausibility, even as the book moves through
character and plot development, and introduces
Xio and Frederick’s variously colored circle of
friends and family.
Poignant and brave at its conclusion, So Hard to
Say will leave audiences with warm, lasting
impressions of both its subtle lessons and its
characters, of whom one can’t wait to meet
again. Which is saying much, because in the
age of saturation–and shameless saturation at
that–readers young and old will probably be left
cheering three little words to Alex Sanchez: más,
más, más. Which in English means more, more,
more. P&A
your right hand!
In the age of saturation–and shameless
saturation at that–there appears to be not a soul
left on planet Earth who has not penned a book
for children or young adults. From television
show hosts to pop music queens, and from B-
movie actors to rowdy political pundits, everyone
(particularly the celebrity circuit) has something
to say, a lesson to impart, an age to
memorialize. Can the success of J.K. Rowling
and her Harry Potter books have been so
effortlessly winning as to inspire an onslaught of
dollars-grabbing children’s literature on self-
acceptance, acceptance of others, stealing,
envy, greed, and lying, among other topics?
With much to vie for the attention of consumers
these day, and especially young adults (videos
and video games, the Internet, the fickle fashion
industry, the even more fickle music industry),
children’s lit has turned into a money chomping
machine of its own by turning books into films,
and films into a sea of endless merchandising. It
is of no amazement if one is left wondering if
there really are any substantive lessons being
imparted in all these books.
Then there arrives a work like Alex Sanchez’s So
Hard to Say, and all suspicions are immediately
pushed aside. Infectious from the very first
paragraph, the author of the highly successful
books Rainbow Boys and Rainbow High has
again struck gold with a story that is as original
and heartwarming as it is insightful and
heartbreaking.
At the plot’s center are two likeable
protagonists. Maria Xiomara Iris Juarez Hidalgo,
nicknamed Xio (pronounced C.O.), who is a Leo
(like Madonna), is also a plucky, feisty, and
funny thirteen year old Mexican-American.
Uniquely constructed, chatty Xio is a strong and
opinionated chica, who is also by turns insecure
and doubtful about the direction of her future.
She lives with her mother and younger brother,
and feels abandoned by a father who has left the
family under mysterious circumstances. On the
first day of class, she befriends–and immediately
develops a crush on–new student Frederick (not
Fred or Freddy or Rick or Ricky), who is a recent
Wisconsin transplant to California. They strike
up a fast friendship that has deeper implications
for Xio. Frederick, on the other hand, is a
thoughtful and deliberate fourteen year old, and
by turns himself insecure and trepidatious
regarding his choices in life. After all, he is
experiencing waves of strong emotions that
leads him to question his sexuality; he believes
he’s gay.
While this may sound like a simplistic story (girl
meets boy who wants boy), its masterful,
sensitive, and intricate execution delivers an
admirably satisfying book. Sanchez, a naturally
gifted writer who has been thrice nominated for a
Lambda Book Award, has also created
impressive characters who hold up mirrors to the
reader, yet are well drawn enough to be
individualistic.
Nearly everyone in So Hard to Say, particularly
the teen characters, act and react to everything
on two levels: intellectually and emotionally,
making them the most balanced constructions in
recent memory. Case in point: when heartthrob
Victor–Frederick’s soccer buddy–is confronted
with a rumor regarding Frederick’s sexuality, he
strokes his chin and insightfully ponders the
situation, despite his sometimes rowdy and
machismo behavior. When Xio is faced with hard
truths about her father, she acts out forcefully,
but then is adult enough to later sit and discuss
her feelings openly with her mother. Frederick’s
evolution is never more apparent than when
faced with a test: should he openly befriend the
handsomely dimpled Iggy, who everyone
believes is gay, and who gets very little respect
from anyone. Even family.
The skillful shifting between thought and
emotion, adolescence and maturity, light and
heavy moments, and even English and Spanish,
makes So Hard to Say easy to digest. Sanchez’s
ability to move the story along and tighten its
dramatic tension without resorting to
sensationalism is also remarkable. Everything–
and everyone–remains in the realm of
plausibility, even as the book moves through
character and plot development, and introduces
Xio and Frederick’s variously colored circle of
friends and family.
Poignant and brave at its conclusion, So Hard to
Say will leave audiences with warm, lasting
impressions of both its subtle lessons and its
characters, of whom one can’t wait to meet
again. Which is saying much, because in the
age of saturation–and shameless saturation at
that–readers young and old will probably be left
cheering three little words to Alex Sanchez: más,
más, más. Which in English means more, more,
more. P&A
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