We’re pretty obsessed with Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and the rest of the Simonverse, and with good reason! The stories are adorable, the characters are loveable, and basically, these books are perfect. Plus, with the epilogue novella coming out in June AND Love, Victor premiering on Hulu VERY SOON (no one’s freaking out, don’t worry) (jk we’re so freaking excited), we thought it was the perfect time to dive back in to the book that started it all.
That’s right, book nerds: it’s a Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda recap! This reread was full of laughter and tears and we are so happy to be bringing you this recap of Becky Albertalli’s truly wonderful book. So whether you need a refresher before picking up Love, Creekwood or watching Love, Victor, or you just want to relive the adorable awkwardness that is Simon Spier, we’ve got you covered. But first…
Let’s get started with our Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda recap!
What Happened in Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda?
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
• Simon Spier: Sixteen years old and not-so-openly-gay, Simon is nerdy, funny, clever, and loving. He loves music (especially Elliot Smith) and has been emailing with Blue, a mysterious boy from his school, who is also gay.
• Mom & Dad Spier: Simon’s parents are self-described “cool, hipster parents.” Simon’s mom is a child psychologist, and though his dad is loving, he isn’t very sensitive, often making vaguely sexist and homophobic jokes. Both are heavily invested in their kids’ lives.
• Nora Spier: Simon’s little sister, Nora is quiet and not very assertive. Simon describes her as “a perfect little chameleon.”
• Alice Spier: Simon’s older sister, a freshman at Wesleyan University. Alice refers to Simon and Nora as Bub and Boop, respectively.
• Bieber Spier: The family golden retriever, named by Alice. Bieber is a big fan of Leah.
• Blue: “Blue” is the pseudonym of the boy Simon has been emailing with. Some clues to his identity are that he shares a name with a former president, he’s half-Jewish, and his parents are divorced. For much of the book, he’s nervous about telling Simon who he really is.
• Leah Burke: Simon’s best friend since sixth grade. Leah is super into anime, slash fanfiction, and her friends, though she isn’t really keen on Abby. She can be moody and sensitive, and doesn’t always love showing affection, but she clearly cares deeply for Nick, Simon, and the rest of her friends.
• Nick Eisner: Nick and Simon have been best friends since they were four years old. Nick loves classic rock and playing his guitar (and has “the most raspy-perfect singing voice in the world”). He loves a philosophical conversation.
• Abby Suso: Abby moved from DC at the beginning of the Creekwood gang’s senior year and quickly became close with Simon and Nick (especially Nick 😊). She is in the school musical with Simon and Martin.
• Martin Addison: A junior at Creekwood High, Martin has been blackmailing Simon with screenshots of his emails with Blue, in order to get closer to Abby, with whom he’s mildly obsessed. Martin doesn’t deserve rights.
• Bram Greenfeld: A junior on Nick’s soccer team, Bram is quiet, sweet, and crazy smart. Simon, adorably, refers to him as “Cute Bram Greenfeld.”
• Cal Price: A junior at Creekwood, Cal is the stage manager of the school musical. He has blue-green eyes and tells Simon that he’s bisexual. For much of the book, Simon suspects that Cal might be Blue.
• Ms. Albright: A teacher at Creekwood and the director of the musical, Ms. Albright is a take-no-s#&t person who is very protective over her students.
• The Blackmail: The book opens with Martin Addison oh-so-casually telling Simon he read his emails about being gay. He insinuates that Simon should help him get with Abby Suso, so that Martin won’t post the screenshots on Creeksecrets, the Creekwood High Tumblr account.
• The First Emails: The first emails between Simon (using the pseudonym “Jacque”) and Blue are about how they realized they were both gay. We learn that the two “met” on Creeksecrets, after Blue posted about his identity.
• The Halloween Party: After Martin approaches Simon about their “arrangement,” Simon invites him to a Halloween party thrown by Garrett, a friend of Nick and Bram. Simon dresses up as a Dementor, while Leah goes as a manga character. Abby, who went full Cleopatra, goes for Wonder Woman at the party. While there, the awkward tension between Leah and Abby is revealed, and Simon checks out Cal, thinking he might be Blue. After the party, Abby asks Simon to tell Martin that she already has a date to homecoming, as she got a feeling he was going to ask her.
• Simon’s Parents: Simon thinks about his parents and how he doesn’t feel like he’s allowed to change. His parents are really invested in who he has as a person, and he feels like they interrogate everything he does. (ex: he drinks coffee and it becomes a “thing”)
• Spirit Week & Homecoming: One day of Spirit Week is “Gender Bender Day,” during which Nick, Garrett, and Bram wear cheerleading uniforms. Simon reflects on how he used to love wearing dresses but hasn’t in ages. Nick, Simon, and Abby all go to homecoming (Leah thinks it’s stupid) and walk in the parade with the junior class, and Simon is excited to take part. Simon tries chatting with Cal, but is interrupted by Martin, who freaks out that Simon didn’t tell him that Abby already had a date.
• More Cute Emails: Simon & Blue discuss how Oreos are most certainly a food group, and Blue tells Simon that he fantasizes about him having sex (Simon, to no one’s surprise, is shocked and overjoyed and super adorable about it!) Later, they bond over music and Blue tells Simon he’s thinking about coming out.
• Waffle House: After more thinly-veiled threats from Martin, Simon finally agrees to help him get with Abby. They go to Waffle House to run lines for the play, and Martin is predictably over-the-top, and sings an entire song in the middle of the restaurant (Martin, why?). Simon, despite everything, thinks Martin is starting to grow on him (Simon, why?).
• Coming Out: Simon comes out to Abby and it is such an adorable, authentic moment! (Seriously, my heart! “Okay, well, I love you,” she says. She pokes me in the cheek. And then we go home.”) Blue later tells Simon that he came out to his mom! Book nerds, we may have been shedding a few tears.
• Martin Doesn’t Deserve Rights: During a rehearsal for the play, Martin freaks out at Simon: he tried to shoot his shot with Abby and was turned down, and blames Simon. On Christmas Eve, someone (Martin) outed Simon on Creeksecrets and someone (Martin) does. not. deserve. rights.
• Christmas Could Have Been Better: Nora is the one to show Simon the Creeksecrets post, and Simon decides to come out to the rest of his family on Christmas morning. His mom is supportive and (of course) inquisitive, and his dad makes some fairly heterosexist jokes in an attempt to be ~chill~ (it doesn’t work, because of course it doesn’t??? Dad Spier, pls.)
• Back at School: Simon comes out to Leah and Nick on New Year’s Eve, and Leah is weird about him telling Abby first. Back at school, Simon is harrassed by a few students, including two that interrupt rehearsal with a really inappropriate sign and honestly, it’s a good thing that Abby, Ms. Albright, and a (usually insufferable) girl named Taylor Metternitch run after them, because we would have tried to figure out a way to do it ourselves. Ms. Albright becomes our favorite fictional teacher by promising “that those a#&holes are getting suspended.”
• Martin’s First Apology: Martin is pretty wrecked (good) and tries to apologize to Simon, but Simon is NOT having it. He tells Martin that he took so much from him, that “I’m supposed to decide when and where and who knows and how I want to say it.” Simon, we love you.
• Jacque a Dit: Blue figures out who Simon is (Jacque means Simon in French). Simon guesses that Blue is Cal, but is wrong. Simon is embarassed and sad, and Blue sounds a little sad, too. Our hearts! After another student harasses Simon and Martin, he starts worrying that Martin might be Blue, which honestly would be TOO MUCH.
• Simon’s Night Out: To distract Simon from all of *gestures vaguely* that, Abby and Nick take Simon out to the city, including a trip to a feminist bookstore (Abby buys him a book about gay penguins, we stan an ally) and dinner at a gay bar. Simon gets hit on by a college kid and has a biiiit too much to drink, and when he gets home he is promptly grounded. Back at school on Monday, Simon learns that Nick and Abby are officially together (can this book get cuter?) and that Leah is royally pissed off at all of them for hanging out without her.
• The Spier’s Heart to Heart: In a moment of really touching growth and vulnerability, Simon’s dad apologizes for his history of pretty sh#tty comments. Simon finally explains to them how he’s been feeling: like he’s been put in a box and can’t change even the slightest bit without it being investigated. They promise to chill a bit if he promises to keep them in the loop about his life.
• Opening Night: Right before opening night, Abby tells Simon that Martin told him about the blackmail (Martin, pls stop) and she’s pretty upset about it (which, like, fair enough. Simon, you probably shouldn’t try to force your friend into relationships. Just a thought.)
• “I Know who You Are”: After a few weeks of silence, Simon writes a really romantic email to Blue (like a freaking Casanova amirite?). He tells him that, despite not knowing his name, he knows him and he just might love him. Finally, he mentions the carnival and says, “‘For what it’s worth, I’ll be there at six thirty. And I hope I see you.’ Love, Simon.” He finds a love note from Blue in the tshirt with BLUE’S FREAKING PHONE NUMBER!
• “It’s You.”: Simon doesn’t find Blue at the carnival, and ends the night on the Tilt-a-Whirl. Suddenly, Bram Greenfeld arrives and tells Simon he likes his shirt, and Simon realizes that BRAM IS BLUE. WE REPEAT. CUTE BRAM GREENFELD IS BLUE. On Monday, they get Oreos for lunch and agree to be ~officially boyfriends~ and the cuteness is honestly almost too much to handle.
• Parole: Simon is granted an evening of parole from his grounding to make up with Leah. He finally calls her out for her aggression towards Abby, and Leah confesses that she’s worried about being replaced by Abby, who she sees as an “upgrade” and our hearts broke a lil. She’s also upset that Simon came out to Abby first, but understands when Simon explains that it was easier to come out to Abby, as they don’t have Leah and Simon’s epic history of friendship.
• The Talent Show: At the talent show, Abby performs and Nick is CLEARLY in love and it’s the cutest. The final act is a band called Emohi, with none other than Leah on drums and NORA SPIER ON LEAD GUITAR! Alice, home from Wesleyan as a surprise, plots to give Bram and Simon some time aone (and unsupervised). Simon thinks that maybe, just maybe, he’s okay with this being a “holy freaking huge awesome deal.”
Want to read more in the Simonverse?
- Buy Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda now!
- Buy the companion novels, The Upside of Unrequited and Leah on the Offbeat now!
- And don’t forget to check out the epilogue novella, Love, Creekwood, to find out where the Creekwood gang ends up!