Why We Must Read Young Adult Books that Deal with Sexual Content

ALAN Review, Summer 2006 by Bott, C J

English teachers, of course, but also sociology/ psychology teachers, social workers, counselors, facilitators in support groups, and librarians helping students find the right book need to know such books exist. These books can be used in several different ways. They can be used alone or in pairs, or in literary circles. Speak and Target make a logical pairing. Melinda and Grady each spend a silent year trying to reenter the world, trying to recover from the violence done to them. Again, Target should be available to our male students because rape can happen to anyone, regardless of gender.

Some educators have suggested Inexcusable could be paired with Speak, but a very clear distinction must be made between the rape in Speak and the date rape in Inexcusable. Melinda, in Speak, did not have a relationship with her attacker. He was a perpetrator who violated several girls. Keir does not fit that role. He and Gigi have a longstanding relationship; there is a mutual attraction that played a part in the event. It was date rape, but Gigi has some responsibility in the event while Melinda does not. However, Inexcusable clearly shows the progression of circumstances that may lead to date rape. Every dating person, teen or adult, would benefit from reading this book.

Jailbait educates us on the dangers of inappropriate and secret partners. Caught in the idealized, romantic world of fifteen years olds, Andrea is lured by the excitement of an older man's attention and the intoxication of such a secret. She is very lucky Frank left before he caused her more pain. How many of our female students are easy prey for men like Frank? What could they learn from reading and discussing such a book? How would they define statutory rape?

Oral sex is another topic not avoided in recent YA books. Many adults are uncomfortable with this topic and won't talk to each other about it; even fewer will talk with teens. But teenage oral sex has been talked about on Oprah and the Dr. Phil show with middle school girls sitting in the hot seat and saying, "It isn't sex, it is just something I do for my friend!" Casually or as the main theme, oral sex in being discussed in YA books. The two most recent books with this subject are Rainbow Party by Paul Ruditis and Sandpiper by Ellen Wittlinger.

Rainbow Party has caused the most buzz, because the term defines an oral sex party where each girl wears a different shade of lipstick and at the end of the party each boy's penis sports a rainbow of colors. Gin has invited six males and six females to her afternoon rainbow party, just enough time before her parents get home from work. There are many doubts in the two hours before the party, and the reader learns of each student's doubts as their voices alternate between the chapters. The value of this book comes from the realistic and honest discussion of these doubts. Those who are invited are like the kids in our classes: they want to be popular and they want to do what is right. Unfortunately it is sometimes impossible to do both. In Rainbow Party only one male shows up. The rainbow party never happens-at least in this book-though it probably is happening in a school near you. At the end of the book, thirty-nine members of the sophomore class have gonorrhea, which is another reason we should read this book. The students in the book and in our classes are ignorant of the dangers of orally transmitted sexual diseases, as are many adults.