Alex Sanchez discusses and signs his newest book The God Box October 10, 2007

High-school senior Paul has dated Angie since middle school, and they're good together: they have a lot of the same interests, like singing in their church choir, and being active in Bible club. But when a new boy, Manuel, transfers to their school, Paul has to rethink his life. Manuel is the first openly gay teen anyone in their small town has ever met, and yet he says he's also a committed Christian. Talking to Manuel makes Paul reconsider thoughts he has kept hidden, and listening to Manuel's interpretation of Biblical passages on homosexuality causes Paul to re-evaluate everything he believed. Manuel's outspokenness triggers dramatic consequences at school, culminating in a terrifying situation that leads Paul to take a stand.

About Alex Sanchez:
In 2004, Alex published So Hard to Say, a novel for younger readers, which won the Lambda Literary Award. In 2005, the third novel in the Rainbow series, Rainbow Road, was published, completing the Rainbow trilogy. Getting It, (2006) is about two teenage boys, one straight and the other gay. Imagine QUEER EYE for the straight teen BOY!

The God Box (2007) focuses on a Christian teen boy, who doesn't want to accept he's gay.

Alex's dream to write began in college with an unpublished children's picture book, but then he went on to work for ten years as a counselor of youth and families both in the United States and overseas. During that time, Alex began to shape a novel about gay teens and their families. As he put the story on paper, it became apparent he was writing the book he'd wanted and needed to read when he was a teenager--a book that would have told him: "It's okay to be who you are."

Although Alex intended to write an upbeat and affirming story that would encourage empathy, he didn't realize until after the release of Rainbow Boys that his book would become an agent of social change, one that School Library Journal compared with Judy Blume's Forever and praised as able to "open eyes and change lives."
Since the publication of Rainbow Boys, Alex has found himself inundated with emails from young people empowered by the book to come out to their parents or to start Gay-Straight Alliance clubs in their schools.

Alex received his master's in guidance and counseling from Old Dominion University. Born in Mexico to parents of German and Cuban heritage, he currently resides in Florida

Official Website: http://booksinc.net/NASApp/store/IndexJsp?s=storeevents