The God Box by Alex Sanchez

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The God Box
by Alex Sanchez

I dislike the idea of selecting someone's book to read simily because of the genre in which they write. "If you read one LGBTQ book this year, make it this one!" Ugh. But, at the same time, I adore the genre and I've liked Alex Sanchez's other books. This one showed up on one of the lists I process every week as a volunteer at one of my local libraries. But this was a book that, when I scanned it in, it actually was supposed to go back on the shelves. Poor thing got its hopes up! So I checked it out and took it home with me instead. It's been on my list of books I've wanted to read for a few years now anyway.

It is by far my favorite of his books. I really enjoy LGBTQ stories with religion mixed in. I'm not a religious person at all, but I know from family that is how Christianity is not always accepting of homosexuality. And I've heard time and time again how the "man sleeping with man" passage is near the passage about not eating shelfish or not wearing two different types of material in clothing. And I've always loved the arguement that God made us all just the way he wanted us to be. And there was some of that--
One not-so-accepting character: "God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve!"
Another character, in reply: "Then who made Steve?"
So I was expecting a book that danced around those sorts of things while maintaining a typical coming out plot and a typical love story/love triangle.

What I got was something that really made me think and examine. The book lets the characters be who they are--with all the doubt and prejudice and love you find in the real world. A gay character is verbally and physically assaulted in the middle of a lunch room where teachers do nothing, and when asked why he doesn't do something, he says that he prays for the guy; what else is there to do? Through the characters, Bible verses are examined, deconstructed, and examined in ways that were completely new to me. I could totally see how the passage about Sodom and Gomorrah could accurately be read as a condemnation of rape and abuse than it is about homosexuality, for example. It's been probably close to 20 years since I read the Bible (and, again, I'm not Christian or really very religious) so I was able to step out of the book and really look at what was being said as the characters try to find their way. It was a brilliant journey to go on with them.

The story itself is about a young man named Paul who has "inappropriate" thoughts about guys. But he wants to be a good Christian. He's let God into his heart and that love basically saved him and his alcoholic father after his mother died years before. So he prays that it's only a phase and dates his best friend, a really sweet and understanding girl he CANNOT talk to about this. When an openly gay boy his age shows up at school, Paul is tested. But he finds that Manuel has completely come to terms with being both Christian and gay. And he's got a crush on Paul. Manuel is sweet, charming, and pretty much the most likeable guy in the world. Unless you've most of the people in this town of Christians who openly ridicule and bash homosexuals. Try starting a Gay-Straight Alliance now! Good luck!

And while Paul's coming out was a little more sudden than I'd have liked, I still thought it believable. It's a book full of beautiful messages for EVERYONE. It's a book about what it means to be religious and gay. But also what it means to be religious and how to treat someone who's gay. It's a book about finding yourself and caring for your friends. It's a book about family and love and how to deal with tough times. it's a whole lot more than just a good LGBTQ book. It's about finding truth where you never thought to look for it before :-) And I think those are things ANYONE can relate to--even somelike like me who is neither religious nor gay!

I really enjoyed this. I just wish it had been longer!