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 makes fun of Iggy, a boy all the other kids think is gay. Frederick has to deal with some tough choices: Even though he is curious about Iggy, he's just started fitting in at his new school, and he doesn't want to lose Xio, his best friend.
In So Hard to Say, Alex Sanchez, acclaimed author of the groundbreaking novels Rainbow High and Rainbow Boys, of which School Library Journal said, "It can open eyes and change lives," helps younger readers look at self-discovery, come to terms with being gay, and accept people who are different from them.
Review
Alex Sanchez's third novel, So Hard to Say switches focus to the interaction between Frederick, a handsome blond teen transplanted from the white-bread world of Wisconsin to a Latino-majority high school in California, and 13-year-old chica Xio, an effervescent take-charge teen who quickly develops a crush on the new kid. By book's end, Frederick has dealt with his sexual confusion, gotten past his crush on a friendly but straight Latino soccer player, befriended Xio - the "best friend straight girl" syndrome so common to YA fiction - and found a boyfriend in Iggy, the steely school sissy.
