Singlets and Secrets

Unveiling Aiden, Book 1

By: Joe Chianakas

Narrated by: Nick Monteleone

Fourteen-year-old Aiden Rothe's life is full of secrets, and his sexuality is only the tip of the iceberg. While his high school wrestling team views gay and strong as mutually exclusive, Aiden is determined to prove them wrong. It's time for a gay athlete to take top prize...if only he wasn't crushing hard on Mateo Hernandez, captain of the JV wrestling team and a major heartthrob.

Locked out of the wrestling scene, Aiden finds an unlikely mentor in his English teacher, Lloyd Samuels, who introduces him to karate. When Aiden's honesty about his sexuality backfires with some homophobic fellow students, Mr. S even steps in to protect him, creating a school martial arts club in the process. Once word gets around, there's an exciting new challenge on campus—the championship wrestling team against a bunch of outsiders and underdogs. It's the ultimate battle between the cool kids and the rebels. And for the main event? A showdown between Aiden versus Mateo. But can Aiden fight his first love and prove himself at the same time?

Dripping with raw emotion, unexpected twists, and more than a dash of hope, Singlets and Secrets isn't just more high school drama. It's a deep dive into figuring out who you are and accepting it no matter what someone else may think—a heroic journey that speaks to the struggling teenager in us all.

©2023 Joe Chianakas (P)2023 Tantor Media

Riveting, suspenseful queer coming-of-age novel

This audiobook came out about three weeks ago and still doesn't have any ratings or reviews, so let me nominate it as the most underrated queer coming of age novel of 2025. While it's not as deep as "Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe" or "Call Me By Your Name," it's just as impossible to put down. It's filled with strong, positive characters that you will want to root for. It's filled with anguish and heartbreak that so many of the characters have to overcome. There's an overarching good vs. evil struggle that plays out in the heads of the characters, in the relationships they form and in the choices they make. It's an audiobook that as soon as you finish, you're going to want to listen to again. Even the narrator does a fantastic job. It really is a perfect audiobook.