Getting It

Title Getting It
Author Alex Sanchez
Sanchez was born in Mexico City and moved to the U.S. when he was five. He has a Master's degreen in Guidance and Counseling and is the author of the acclaimed Rainbow Boys series.
ISBN 9781416908982
Publisher Simon Pulse
Copyright Date 2006
Reading Level/Interest Age 12+
Genre Issues: Sexual Identity; LGBT Fiction
Plot Summary
Meet Carlos Amorosa, 15 year-old virgin. Every night he dreams about Roxana “Roxy” Rodriguez and every day he loses his nerve and can’t speak to her. All of his friends have had sex and he’s getting tired of their bragging and putting him down. While watching Queer Eye for the Straight Guy one night, it suddenly occurs to him that maybe he could ask a senior at his school named Sal, who is rumored to be gay and is constantly surrounded by girls, for some advice about how to be more attractive to the opposite sex. Surprisingly, Sal agrees, on the condition that Carlos helps him form a Gay-Straight Alliance at their high school. Will learning the secrets to getting girls be worth the chance that his friends will make fun of him for being gay? Or will Carlos give in to the pressure of his friends and remain a virgin forever?
Critical Evaluation
Getting It is a very straight-forward narrative which finds an endearing narrator in Carlos. Alex Sanchez manages to strike a balance between a coming-of-age tale about the development from boy to man and a novel with a very clear message to tell about homophobia in school. Like Luna, positioning the gay (or in the case of Luna, transgender) character in the storyline as a secondary character is a clever narrative device that allows the reader to confront his own homophobia and change his attitudes right along with Carlos. Additionally, the juxtaposition of Sal with his good looks, sense of humor, confidence, intelligence, manners and class against Carlos’ friends – rude, obnoxious, immature and insecure – makes one immediately sympathetic to the fact that treating a person who is LGBT differently is simply prejudiced. Sanchez also does a great job of integrating Carlos’ own development with his evolving relationship with his parents, drawing in readers who can relate to the pain of divorce and the difficulty of forgiving your parents. I would recommend this book to younger readers as mature readers might find the “makeover” aspects formulaic. This would be a great book to recommend to teenagers who are straight but interested in themes of social justice and equality.
Reader’s Annotation
Carlos would do anything to have sex with a girl – but will he risk being called queer to let the gay guy make him over?
Curriculum Ties Could be tied into lessons about LGBT issues, tolerance and prejudice.
Booktalking Ideas
1. Hook the audience with a plot summary, focusing on whether a “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” makeover will help Carlos get the girl.
2. Do a character sketch modeled after the profiles of the characters on the website in the book “Hot or Snot.”
Challenge Issues
Please see "Controversy & LGBT Teen Collections"
Why did I include this book?
Rainbow List (2009, ALA); Top Ten Youth Romances (2007, Booklist); Alex Sanchez is one of the main authors in this genre and this is his most recent book.