Alex Sanchez (born 1957) is a

Mexican American Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...

author of award-winning novels for teens and adults. His

first novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

, ''

Rainbow Boys ''Rainbow Boys'' is the first novel in a trilogy by Alex Sánchez, focusing on the issues gay and questioning youth face as they come of age. This book is followed by '' Rainbow High'' and ''Rainbow Road''. Plot summary The story follows the ...

'' (2001), was selected by the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

(ALA), as a

Best Book for Young Adults The American Library Association's Best Fiction for Young Adults, previously known as Best Books for Young Adults (1966–2010), is a recommendation list of books presented yearly by the YALSA division (Young Adult Library Services Association Th ...

. Subsequent books have won additional awards, including the

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

. Although Sanchez's novels are widely accepted in thousands of school and public libraries in America, they have faced a handful of challenges and efforts to ban them. In

Webster, New York Webster is a town in the northeastern corner of Monroe County, New York, United States. The town is named after orator and statesman Daniel Webster. The population was 42,641 at the 2010 census. The town's motto is "Where Life Is Worth Living." ...

, removal of ''

'' from the 2006 summer reading list was met by a counter-protest from students, parents, librarians, and community members resulting in the book being placed on the 2007 summer reading list.

Life and career

Sanchez was born in 1957 in Mexico City, to parents of German and Cuban heritage; his family emigrated to the U.S. in 1962. He studied writing at the

Fine Arts Work Center The Fine Arts Work Center is a non-profit enterprise devoted to encouraging the growth and development of emerging visual artists and writers through residency programs, to the propagation of aesthetic values and experience, and to the restoratio ...

Provincetown, Massachusetts Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Provincet ...

, under

Michael Cunningham Michael Cunningham (born November 6, 1952) is an American novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for his 1998 novel '' The Hours'', which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1999. Cunningham is a senior lectur ...

, Richard McCann,

Allan Gurganus Allan may refer to: People * Allan (name), a given name and surname, including list of people and characters with this name * Allan (footballer, born 1984) (Allan Barreto da Silva), Brazilian football striker * Allan (footballer, born 1989) ( ...

Peter Ho Davies Peter Ho Davies (born 30 August 1966), is a contemporary British writer of Welsh and Chinese descent. Biography Born and raised in Coventry, Davies was a pupil at King Henry VIII School. He studied physics at Manchester University and then En ...

, Michael Klein,

Elizabeth McCracken Elizabeth McCracken (born 1966) is an American author. She is a recipient of the PEN New England Award. Life and career McCracken, a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, graduated from Newton North High ...

, and

Jacqueline Woodson Jacqueline Woodson (born February 12, 1963) is an American writer of books for children and adolescents. She is best known for '' Miracle's Boys'', and her Newbery Honor-winning titles ''Brown Girl Dreaming'', ''After Tupac and D Foster'', ''Fea ...

. Sanchez's works explore themes of

love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...

friendship Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague. In some cultures, the concept o ...

coming of age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

, and LGBT questioning youth. His first novel, ''

'' (2001), was selected by the

, as a

. With the novel's debut, ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' magazine deemed Sanchez a "Flying Start". Two sequels, '' Rainbow High'' (2003) and ''Rainbow Road'' (2005), complete the Rainbow trilogy, portraying the coming of age of three gay and bisexual teenage boys. Both novels were honored as "Books for the Teen Age" by the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

. Sanchez's novel ''So Hard to Say'' (2004), about a group of 13-year-olds, won the

for Children's and Young Adult literature. ''Getting It'' (2006) won the Myers Outstanding Book Award for Human Rights and also second place at the 2007 Latino Book Awards for Best Young Adult Fiction in English. ''

The God Box ''The God Box'' (2007), a novel by Alex Sánchez, focuses on the conflict and friendship between two Christian teenage boys, one openly gay and the other struggling to accept his sexuality. It was adapted into a play in 2009 which had its wor ...

'' (2007), focuses on the conflict and friendship between two Christian teenage boys, one openly gay and the other struggling to accept his sexuality. ''Bait'' (2009), about a teenage boy struggling with secrets from his past, won the 2009 Florida Book Award Gold Medal for YA fiction and the 2011 Tomás Rivera Mexican-American Children's Book Award. ''Boyfriends with Girlfriends'' (2011) explores bisexuality in teens. In May 2011, the

Lambda Literary Foundation The Lambda Literary Foundation (also known as Lambda Literary) is an American LGBTQ literary organization whose mission is to nurture and advocate for LGBTQ writers, elevating the impact of their words to create community, preserve their legaci ...

awarded Sanchez the Outstanding Mid-Career Novelists' Prize. Additional works by Sanchez include his short story, ''If You Kiss a Boy'', which appeared in the anthology ''13: Thirteen Stories about the Agony and Ecstasy of Being Thirteen'' (2003), edited by James Howe. Although Sanchez's novels are widely accepted in thousands of school and public libraries in the U.S. and Canada, they have faced a handful of challenges and efforts to ban them. Linda P. Harvey of Mission America in Columbus, Ohio, targeted ''

'' in her 2002 essay "The World According to

PFLAG PFLAG is the United States' first and largest organization uniting parents, families, and allies with people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+). PFLAG National is the national organization, which provides support to ...

: Why PFLAG and Children Don't Mix Unless you happen to like child abuse" . The book was also challenged by citizens in

Owen, Wisconsin Owen is a city in Clark County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 940 at the 2010 census. Owen is located directly east of the village of Withee, which is about half the size of Owen. History In 1880 the Wisconsin Central Railr ...

in 2005, but ultimately retained by the Owen-Withee Junior and Senior High School, although the superintendent suggested creating a policy of requiring guardian permission to check out the book (ABFFE). In addition to the Wisconsin challenge, the book was also challenged at the Montgomery County Memorial Library System in

Montgomery County, Texas Montgomery County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county had a population of 620,443. The county seat is Conroe. The county was created by an act of the Congress of the Republic of Texas on December 14, 1 ...

(Doyle 6). The

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

of Texas also reports that ''Rainbow Boys'' was challenged in Texas during the 2004–05 school year (ACLUTX 30). One of the most recent challenges occurred in 2006, when the Webster, New York Central School District removed ''Rainbow Boys'' from the summer reading list. After numerous protests from students, parents, librarians, and community members, the book was placed on the 2007 summer reading list. In Canada in 2008, the superintendent of Schools for Charlotte County, New Brunswick canceled plans for Sanchez to speak to students in the high schools "after a few parents objected". However, after hearing Sanchez speak at a presentation, he said he would recommend the gay author as a speaker. "Oh absolutely. Definitely. Now that I've heard him, he's wonderful. But I needed to hear that message." In June 2020,

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

published '' You Brought Me the Ocean'', a graphic novel based on the character

Aqualad Aqualad is the name of two fictional comic book superheroes appearing in media published by DC Entertainment. The first Aqualad, Garth, debuted in February 1960 in '' Adventure Comics'' #269 and was created by writer Robert Bernstein and artist ...

, authored by Sanchez and illustrated by Jul Maroh, author of ''

Blue is the Warmest Color (comics) ''Blue Is the Warmest Color'' (french: Le bleu est une couleur chaude, originally announced as ''Blue Angel'') is a French graphic novel by Jul Maroh, published by Glénat (publisher), Glénat in March 2010. The English-language edition was publish ...

''. Sanchez's novel ''The Greatest Superpower'' (2021) tells the story of twin thirteen-year-old boys whose beloved dad comes out as transgender. On August 11, 2021, ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine announced the selection of ''

'' as one of "The 100 Best YA Books of All Time".

Works, awards, and achievements

* ''

'' (2001):

2002

International Reading Association The International Literacy Association (ILA), formerly the International Reading Association (IRA), is an international global advocacy and member professional organization that was created in 1956 to improve reading instruction, facilitate dialo ...

2003 "Young Adults' Choice",

2002 "Book for the Teen Age",

2001 finalist, ''

The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books ''The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books'' is an academic journal established in 1945 by Frances E. Henne (Graduate Library School, University of Chicago).Wedgeworth, Robert. ''World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Services''. Ch ...

'' "Blue Ribbon Winner",

Book-of-the-Month Club Book of the Month (founded 1926) is a United States subscription-based e-commerce service that offers a selection of five to seven new hardcover books each month to its members. Books are selected and endorsed by a panel of judges, and members c ...

InsightOutBooks.com selection, ''Time'' magazine 100 Best YA Books of All Time * '' Rainbow High'' (2003):

2003 Finalist,

2004 "Book for the Teen Age", Children's Book Council Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People 2004,

InsightOutBooks.com Main Selection, Quality Paperback Book Club Featured Selection * '"If You Kiss a Boy"' (short story in the anthology, ''13: Thirteen Stories About the Agony and Ecstasy of Being Thirteen'', James Howe, Ed., 2003). Selected by the

Junior Library Guild Junior Library Guild, formerly the Junior Literary Guild, is a commercial book club devoted to juvenile literature. It was created in 1929 as one of the enterprises of the Literary Guild, an adult book club created in 1927 by Samuel W. Craig and H ...

. * ''So Hard to Say'' (2004):

2004 Winner; Rhode Island Teen Book Award Nominee; VOYA Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers; Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) Choice; Borders Bookstores "Original Voices: New and Emerging Writers" selection,

InsightOutBooks.com Featured Selection, Mi Zona Hispana selection,

2005 "Book for the Teen Age",

Quill Award The Quill Award was an American literary award that ran for three years in 2005-2007. It was a "consumer-driven award created to inspire reading while promoting literacy." The Quills Foundation, the organization behind the Quill Award, was support ...

2005 nominee * ''Rainbow Road'' (2005):

2005 Finalist;

2006 "Book for the Teen Age;" 2009

ALA Ala, ALA, Alaa or Alae may refer to: Places * Ala, Hiiu County, Estonia, a village * Ala, Valga County, Estonia, a village * Ala, Alappuzha, Kerala, India, a village * Ala, Iran, a village in Semnan Province * Ala, Gotland, Sweden * Alad, S ...

"Popular Paperback for Young Adults;"

InsightOutBooks.com Featured Selection * ''Getting It'' (2006): Myers Outstanding Book Award 2007 Winner; 9th International Latino Book Awards 2nd place Best Young Adult Fiction – English;

2007 "Book for the Teen Age;"

InsightOutBooks.com Featured Selection * ''

'' (2007):

2008 "Book for the Teen Age";

2014 Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults * ''Bait'' (2009): Florida Book Award Gold Medal for Young Adult Fiction; 2011 Tomás Rivera Mexican-American Children's Book Award Winner * ''Boyfriends with Girlfriends'' (2011):

"Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers;"

"Rainbow List"; Bankstreet College of Education Children's Book Committee 2012 Best Children's Books of the Year;

2011 Finalist. * '"The Secret Life of a Teenage Boy"' (short story in the anthology, ''All Out: The No Longer Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages'', Saundra Mitchell, Ed., 2018). * ''You Brought Me the Ocean'' (2020) graphic novel authored by Sanchez and illustrated by Jul Maroh: Finalist, 2020 Cybils Award (Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards); Nominee, 2021 (32nd)

GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book The GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book is an annual award that honors comic books for excellence in the depiction of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) characters and themes. It is one of several categories of the annual ...

; Finalist, 2021 Ignyte Award for Best Comics Team. * ''The Greatest Superpower'' (2021): Chicago Public Schools "Battle of the Books" 2021-2022 school year selection In 2011 the

awarded Sanchez the

Jim Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelists' Prize The Jim Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelists' Prize is an American literary award, presented to two writers, one male and one female, from the LGBT community to honour their body of work. First presented by the Saints and Sinners Literary Festi ...

. In 2016 he received an attribution in

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language ''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'' (''AHD'') is an American English, American dictionary of English published by Boston publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Houghton Mifflin, the first edition of which appeared in 1969. ...

for the word ''majorly''. In 2017 he served as a mentor for We Need Diverse Books and as a judge for the

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

in Young People's Literature.

References

American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression The American Booksellers Association (ABA) founded The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) in 1990. The ABFFE is a non-profit organization whose mission is to protect and promote free speech in the United States. ABFFE advi ...

"The Stories Behind Some of This Year's Book Bans and Challenges"
Accessed September 11, 2005. * American Civil Liberties Union of Texas
"Free People Read Freely: An Annual Report on Banned and Challenged Books in Texas Public Schools 2004–2005"
(September 25, 2005)]. Accessed August 16, 2006. * Doyle, Robert P
"Books Challenged Or Banned in 2001–2005"
Illinois Library Association. Accessed September 11, 2005. * Harvey, Linda P
"The World According to PFLAG: Why PFLAG and Children Don't Mix Unless you happen to like child abuse"
Accessed September 11, 2005. * Lewis, Jeni
"Owen-Withee board rejects book-ban request"
''Marshfield News Herald''. January 5, 2005. Accessed September 11, 2005.

External links

Official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Alex 1957 births 21st-century American novelists American children's writers American male novelists American writers of Mexican descent LGBT Hispanic and Latino American people Gay novelists Hispanic and Latino American novelists Lambda Literary Award winners Lambda Literary Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature winners Writers from Mexico City Mexican LGBT novelists American LGBT novelists Living people Mexican people of Cuban descent Mexican people of German descent 21st-century American male writers 21st-century LGBT people American gay writers