Alex Sanchez

Award Winning Author of books for gay youth and those who wish to understand and love them.

Sexuality, Gender, Diversity, Youth, Teens, Immigration, Hispanic/Latino, Creative Writing, Inspirational

 BIO   EDUCATION   CAREER

PUBLISHED WORKS   AWARDS & HONORS

The Bio

Alex Sanchez is author of the novel Rainbow Boys, selected as a 2002 "Best Book for Young Adults" by the American Library Association and a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award.

As a result of the extraordinary reception to Rainbow Boys, Alex was honored as a "Flying Start" by Publishers Weekly.

Rainbow High, the sequel to Rainbow Boys, was released in fall 2003 and also selected as a Lambda Literary Award finalist. His short story, "If You Kiss a Boy" appeared in the fall 2003 anthology 13: Thirteen Stories about the Agony and Ecstasy of Being Thirteen, edited by James Howe.

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, won a Myers Outstanding Book Award. The story centers on 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Alex's dream to write began in college with an unpublished children's picture book, but then he went on to work for ten years as a counselor of youth and families both in the United States and overseas.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.

EDUCATION:

B.A., Liberal Arts, Virginia Tech University, 1978, with
honors, Phi Beta Kappa. Concentrations: English, Philosophy, and
Architecture.
M.S. Ed., Guidance & Counseling, Old Dominion University, 1985.

CAREER:

Writer. Previously worked as a website manager,
organizational development consultant, juvenile probation officer,
family counselor, scuba instructor, program coordinator, admissions
official, college recruiter, movie projectionist, agent trainee, movie
production assistant, theater usher, stock clerk, and tour guide.

PUBLISHED WORKS:
Rainbow Boys (novel, Simon & Schuster, 2001)
Rainbow High (novel, Simon & Schuster, 2003)
"If You Kiss a Boy" (short story in the anthology, 13: Thirteen Stories About the Agony and Ecstasy of Being Thirteen, James Howe, Ed., Atheneum/Simon & Schuster, 2003)
So Hard to Say (novel, Simon & Schuster, 2004)
Rainbow Road (novel, Simon & Schuster, 2005)
Getting It (novel, Simon & Schuster, 2006)
The God Box (novel, Simon & Schuster, 2007)

AWARDS, HONORS:

Selected as a "Flying Start" by Publishers Weekly Magazine, December 24, 2001. 

For Rainbow Boys: 

Selected as a 2002 "Best Book for Young Adults" by the American Library Association; a "Blue Ribbon Winner" by the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books; a 2002 "Book for the Teen Age" by the New York Public Library; a 2003 "Young Adults' Choice" by the International Reading Association; a Book-of-the-Month Club InsightOutBooks.com selection; and a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award.