Openly Straight cover art

Openly Straight

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Openly Straight

By: Bill Konigsberg
Narrated by: Pete Cross
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About this listen

Rafe is a normal teenager from Colorado. He's been out since 8th grade, accepted by his peers & championed by his progressive parents. And while that's important, all Rafe really wants is to be a regular guy. To have his sexuality be a part of who he is, but not the headline, every single time. So when Rafe transfers to an all-boys' boarding school in New England, he decides to keep his sexuality a secret - not so much going back in the closet as starting over with a clean slate. But then he sees a classmate breaking down and realizes his own labels aren't well-concealed. And most of all, he falls in love with Ben...who doesn't even know that love is possible.

©2015 Bill Konigsberg (P)2017 Dreamscape Media, LLC Difficult Situations Family & Relationships Friendship LGBTQ+ Literature & Fiction Romance Funny

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Critic reviews

"From the first, Pete Cross's narration describes the high spirits of Rafe and his family.... The humor continues outwardly throughout the book, but Cross undercuts it with Rafe's uncomfortable inner feelings.... Cross's delivery reflects how Rafe wrestles with honesty, hides truths in a romantic relationship, and finally faces the painful path to becoming his real self." ( AudioFile)
All stars
Most relevant
lovely well written sweet story. has all the making of coming of age and restarting it all again.

heartwarming

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Amazing story. As a bisexual guy who has had issues with labels in the past I really resonated with Rafe. I began the story completely understanding why he decided with “stand in the doorway” but as the story moved on and the narrative was flushed out I began to see the flaws in the logic.

Finally, when Rafe was actively lying to Ben in order to maintain this persona I finally realised how bad of a decision it was. The ending was the worse case scenario for there relationship and it was a lesson in not shutting out who you really are as it may just blow up in your face.

I may have needed a hug after this book, but that doesn’t mean it’s not amazing!

I need a hug...

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Believable and captivating characters and relationships, in a story told with humour, finesse and sensitivity.

I loved the details and personalities of the characters on the periphery as much as the main characters and their relationship.

I thoroughly enjoyed this.

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There was parts to laugh at and parts to cry at. An emotional, charming but most of all relatable story. Highly recommended!

Spectacular

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One of those books that you feel immensely grateful to have come across, whatever your age. I'm truly envious that modern youth have access to such a rich and expanding genre of which this book is a leading example. The audio performance was outstanding.

stunningly good

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