After reading this book, I realized that books speak to three different parts of us: our bodies, our brains, and our hearts. The books that have you on edge the entire time and you literally just can't stop reading-- those speak to our bodies. The ones that make you think and reconsider your opinions and actually interpret what is happening-- those speak to our brains. And the ones that you quite literally feel resounding within your chest-- those speak to our hearts. Of course, the best books have some combination of the three, though any book can be successful if it just does one really well. 
 Benjamin Alire Saenz writes books that speak to the heart. 
 While reading The Inexplicable Logic of My Life, my heart just hurt for these characters. I felt them. 
 Not much happens in this book, and that's okay. There are so many times while I was reading and thought, "If this were any other book, [twist] would happen." But those twists don't happen, and that's what makes this book so poignant. 
 All of these lovely characters, from Sal to Sam to Vicente to Mima to Fito, are genuinely good people. They have flaws for sure, but they are good. And you can't help but to root for them. And shit happens to them, and this book hurts because you realize that shit happens to good people and there really is no reason for it and it just isn't fair. And that's why I cried three times in this book, the last being quite literal sobs. They don't deserve the shit they are handed, but it happens to them anyway, and they have to learn how to cope with their grief and heartbreak. 
 Vincente might get the parent of the year award. Scratch that, he definitely gets the parent of the year award. At one point, Sal and Sam compare Vincente to Atticus Finch, but the original Atticus Finch before Go Set a Watchmen when Atticus's subtle racism is exposed, and this comparison is SO PERFECT. Vincente is everything that we all romanticize about Atticus. 
 Just like in Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, I love how Saenz tackles the concepts of masculinity and family. These are books for and about tough but sensitive boys.