The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson

"I never shut up."
"Yes, you do."
"Not much."
"I could make you shut up."
"Oh, yeah?" Avery said, turning her face to Mel's. "How?"
In a way, Mel's answer was a surprise to both of them. She simply sealed Avery's lips with her own.
And she was right. That seemed to shut Avery up.

I started reading The Burmudez Triangle (also alternately titled, On the Count of Three) on the day that DOMA was shot down as a way of celebrating equal rights for all. I'd had this novel sitting on one of my (many) to-be-read shelves and I figured that was the perfect time to start.

I've read a few of Maureen Johnson's books in the past and I still have two more on my to-be-read shelves. I have also met her a few times at various book events (ie. LeakyCon and Teen Book Con), follow her on Twitter (if you aren't following her on Twitter, then I don't know why you're on the site at all), and legitimately own a T-shirt with her face on it. Now that I sound sufficiently like a crazed stalker (I promise, I'm not), the point I'm trying to make is that she's a pretty great author and an awesome person. I was excited to see how she handled such a controversial topic that has already managed to get the book banned in a number of school libraries. I was pretty confident that, if anyone could handle it, she could. I was right.

When Nina goes off to summer camp at Stanford, she is nervous about being away from her best friends and being in a new environment. It's the first of many changes to be had in her life. After all, senior year is just around the corner and then it's off to college and she'll have to figure things out that won't involve the two girls she's done everything with since kindergarten. However, the biggest change seems to happen while she's gone: Mel and Avery, those very two girls, have their first kiss. With each other.

Mel and Avery start dating after that night, but calling things complicated is an understatement. Each has to come to terms with what they've learned about themselves and that's just the beginning. Though they try to keep things under wraps, it's not easy to keep secrets in small towns. Nina and their new friend, Parker, do their best to be supportive, but sometimes there's only so much friends can do in tough situations, particularly when that situation throws your friends for a loop too.

I really enjoyed everything about this book. Maureen does a wonderful job at weaving each of the girl's points of view into a coherent piece that makes you want to keep reading late into the night. Nina, Avery, Mel, and even Parker could easily be the kids you went to high school with. It's definitely a treat to read such believable (and relatable) characters dealing with something that plenty of us have had to deal with. I especially enjoyed the fact that none of them dealt with these revelations perfectly. Every character had to deal with coming to terms with the big news, as well as all the other little bits and pieces of their own lives that threatened to overwhelm them.

If you haven't read The Bermudez Triangle yet, you need to. Go pick it up. You won't regret it.

Rating: ★★★★★

What were the chances that both of my best friends would be gay?
This was a good point. After all, didn't that say something about her? And she was part of a triangle. Hello!
She was so gay.
No, she wasn't. She had a boyfriend. She was writing to him now to get advice about her gay friends.
A boyfriend who lived three thousand miles away. How convenient! Unconsciously she had been setting herself up for this all along because she must have known that deep down, she was a total and complete lesbian, part of a lifelong lesbian trio.
Focus.
She had to put her head down against the edge of her desk and count backward from twenty and then again from twenty-five before she could continue typing.