So, it's been a while since I regularly read YA books...
In the last six months, though, a story idea has been itching at me. It's clearly a YA story line, so I've been schlepping around my local library, reading some newer YA stuff. My question is--do today's YA novels have more explicit sex in them than they did in my day? I haven't seen any, so I was wondering, since there's so much talk about teenagers these days maturing more quickly.
The question developed out of this realization: as a teenager myself, the only books I read explicit sex in were raunchy inappropriate horror/slasher novels and cheesy romance novels. That was where I learned 85% of what I knew about sex. As I told my husband: "If I'd had to rely on those books, teenaged me would have had some pretty weird expectations about sex. Namely mind-blowing bliss, or the prospect of being carved up for human sacrifice, or being possessed by a demon shortly after coitus." I laugh about that, but it's true!
I'm just curious what other people think about how/what/where teenagers learn about sex.
In the last six months, though, a story idea has been itching at me. It's clearly a YA story line, so I've been schlepping around my local library, reading some newer YA stuff. My question is--do today's YA novels have more explicit sex in them than they did in my day? I haven't seen any, so I was wondering, since there's so much talk about teenagers these days maturing more quickly.
The question developed out of this realization: as a teenager myself, the only books I read explicit sex in were raunchy inappropriate horror/slasher novels and cheesy romance novels. That was where I learned 85% of what I knew about sex. As I told my husband: "If I'd had to rely on those books, teenaged me would have had some pretty weird expectations about sex. Namely mind-blowing bliss, or the prospect of being carved up for human sacrifice, or being possessed by a demon shortly after coitus." I laugh about that, but it's true!
I'm just curious what other people think about how/what/where teenagers learn about sex.