Today’s book review comes courtesy of one of my favorite authors, Maureen Johnson. I follow her on Twitter and also read her blog, and she mentioned that this book had been challenged and banned in a high school in Ohio. Any time a book created controversy, I have to read it. Besides, I’ve really liked Maureen Johnson, ever since seeing her on the Vlogbrothers YouTube channel.

The book I’m talking about is The Bermudez Triangle. It’s about these three girls, Nina, Mel and Avery, who have been best friends nearly their whole lives. During the summer before their senior year of high school, Nina goes off to a special summer program for high school leadership at Stanford, leaving Mel and Avery behind to have a really lame summer working at a really lame theme restaurant. And while they are together, they enter into a relationship. A romantic relationship.

Hence why this book was challenged. Because it featured two homosexual teen girls. Sigh. People are stupid. The story does talk about the two of them trying to figure things out, especially since one of them had never really considered herself gay before. Let me also say that this book is one of the cleanest teen books I’ve read, with very little language that anyone would find offensive, and absolutely no sex at all. In fact, if the two characters had been a girl and a boy, I seriously doubt this book would have been challenged at all. As I said, stupid.

Mostly, this book is about what happens when Nina comes back home and finds out that her two best friends are more than just friends now. It makes things more than a little awkward, and of course, hilarity ensues. This book is also very heartwarming and bittersweet, since it shows how even though best friends can sometimes grow apart, they are still always there for each other. And while Nina knows what she wants to do with her life (hence going to the summer program), Mel and Avery are still trying to figure all that out, which is a very relatable topic for teens.

Anyway, this book is a lot of fun to read and will probably bring back some high school memories. You should definitely check it out.