BROADCASTS.com

b'

Two boys, Mexican-American, 1987, El Paso, Texas\\u2026 and they fall in love. That\\u2019s the pitch behind Benjamin Alire S\\xe1enz\\u2019s bestselling young adult novel, \\u201cAristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.\\u201d Nearly a decade later, Benjamin would release the book\\u2019s sequel, \\u201cAristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World,\\u201d to wide acclaim.

For both books, Benjamin drew inspiration from his life growing up near the border in New Mexico. But he didn\\u2019t immediately begin writing full-time\\u2014Benjamin was a priest for several years until he left the order just before turning 30. He eventually followed his calling to be a writer and moved to El Paso, where he would write several award-winning books including \\u201cAristotle and Dante.\\u201d The novels would become a massive, queer young adult hit that spoke to hundreds of thousands of readers around the world. Benjamin, a gay Latino man himself who came out just a few years before the book was published, found solace in the characters, too.

On this episode of Latino USA, Benjamin talks about his journey from the borderlands to the priesthood and back to El Paso again. He also discusses \\u201cAristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe\\u201d\\u2014the book that he says saved his life and became a surprise international phenomenon along the way.