Rainbow Boys

For the first printing only! This paperback features sprayed stenciled edges while the special edition supply lasts. This reissue has a brand-new look, a note from the author, and an introduction by Maia Kobabe, author of Gender Queer.

A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021)

Navigating through the intolerant world of the early aughts and their own insecurities, three teenage boys find each other and the confidence to come out of the closet in this seminal queer coming-of-age novel.

Jason Carillo is a jock with a steady girlfriend. He's on track to play ball, marry his high school sweetheart, and get as far away from his abusive dad as possible--but that's if he can get into college with his shaky math grades...and if he can stop dreaming about having sex with guys.

Kyle Meeks is definitely gay, but he's not planning on telling anyone, least of all his parents. All he wants is to keep his head down and get through high school without incident--until Jason asks him for help in math and all of a sudden, Kyle is spending long hours with a boy he's always found cute and it's getting harder and harder to keep his feelings under wraps.

Nelson Glassman is out and loud about it, but being proud of who you are doesn't mean things don't get lonely. He's got a target on his back for the school bullies to kick, and while his mom supports him, she doesn't entirely understand him. To make things worse, he and his best friend--and longtime crush--Kyle have been spending more and more time apart, and he doesn't know how to deal.

Messy, honest, and raw, Rainbow Boys follows these three boys as they come of age and come out of the closet in the early aughts in one of the most revolutionary young adult novels in the last quarter century.

Author: Alex Sanchez
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published: 09/29/2026
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.60lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.50w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9798347101771
Audience: Young Adult

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 3.7
Point Value: 8
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 66873 / Rainbow Boys

About the Author
Alex Sanchez spent almost fifteen years working with youth. He is the author of the teen novels Boyfriends with Girlfriends, Bait, The God Box, Getting It, Rainbow Boys, Rainbow High, and Rainbow Road, as well as the Lambda Award-winning middle grade novel So Hard to Say. Lambda Literary honored Alex with a Jim Duggins, PhD Outstanding Mid-Career Novelists' Prize. He lives in Thailand and Hollywood, Florida. Visit him at AlexSanchez.com.