So Hard to Say

by Alex Sanchez and Alex Sanchez

Book Overview

Frederick is the shy new boy, and Xio is the bubbly chica who lends him a pen on the first day of class. They become fast friends -- but when Xio decides she wants to be more than friends, Frederick isn't so sure. He loves hanging out with Xio and her crew, but he doesn't like her that way. Instead he finds himself thinking more and more about Victor, the captain of the soccer team. But does that mean Frederick's gay? He hopes not -- he sees how everyone...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689865643
• ISBN13: 9780689865640
• Release Date: October 2004
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Length: 230 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.8" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 10 to 14 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 9

Customer Reviews

So Hard To Say

So Hard To Say is a fantastic book. It can teach people a valuable lesson about moving some where and discovering yourself. I have read this book 3 times and every time I read it I understand each character more .This book not only reveals the internal story of each character but the external as well. I really recommend this book to everyone and i hope they like it.

Terrific Teacher Read-Aloud !

As a middle school educator, I highly recommend this title as a teacher Read-Aloud. The book focuses on our main characters Xio (pronounced C.O.) and her new friend Frederick. When Frederick arrives at his new school Xio finds herself very attracted to him. They become friends almost immediately but Xio wants more than friendship and Frederick struggles with having to go about telling her that she is barking up the wrong tree. The novel is well written and covers varied themes of diversity, among them - gender, sexuality, and race. Additionally Xio learns some things about her own family and why her parents actually divorced. I think this would be an outstanding read for any seventh or eighth grader, and as a teacher Read-Aloud it would generate some great discussions/conversations on acceptance, understanding, and diversity. Highly recommended.

Not Hard to Read

A well-hewn story illuminating the subtle gradations involved in coming out, So Hard to Say takes on the challenging task of one 13-year-old boy's progress from childhood to manhood. Frederick is a typical middle-school student dealing with the maze of finding friends, wanting a girlfriend (maybe Xio, a forward classmate who adores him) and trying to understand his role in a rapidly-changing role. As he explores his feeling for Xio's friend Victor, a confident, handsome, fair-minded athlete, he slowly comes to realize it's not Xio he loves. On the scene is Iggy, an outwardly gay youth who is tormented at school. While it might sound like a typical young-adult novel, it certainly is not. Author Alex Sanchez thought this through throughly before writing. The evolution of emotions blossoms perfectly, revealing growth and its counterbalancing immaturity at the same time. Most writers wouldn't take on the story of such a young teen's coming out. But Sanchez does it with incredible skill and inimitable grace.

Funny, Revealing and Tender

I just can't say enough good things about Alex Sanchez. I have had the opportunity to meet the author on a few occasions as he swings through Orlando and I must say that getting to know his books is truly getting to know him. Although his previous books have been about gay youth, this story moves back to junior high, reminding me of all the wonderfully painful moments and realizations made during that time. Fredrick and Xio are two brilliantly written characters who could walk right out of the book they seem so real. There is some very subtle humor written into the plot as Fredrick realizes he is gay and his friend Xio becomes more and more frustrated until the realization hits her as well. A story many of us know all too well. Although the book is written for a much younger audience, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the story, remembering my perspective as a 13 year old. I suspect there will be a follow up to this book as there are just too many possibilities for the transition of this cast as they move into high school. I don't think I got as involved with this book as I did Rainbow Boys and Rainbow High, but again, it wasn't written with me in mind. I am looking forward to the follow up in the Rainbow series sometime next year.

Tongues Untied

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 twice 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 charact