I'm torn here, between sympathizing with the parents and suggesting they thank heavens their kids are reading anything at all:
Although few parents would object to their teens reading during the summer, more might object to the content in some of this summer’s books for teens. Issues such as teen sex and drug use are often addressed in coming-of-age literature, but some worry that new novels are not only more graphic, but make such behavior more glamorous.An example is “Rainbow Party” by Paul Ruditis, which has created a stir among librarians and booksellers. The book is about a group of teens who plan an oral sex party. Discussion of the book has focused on whether its merit as a warning against such behaviors outweighs its graphic content.
Barbara Wakefield, the children services manager for Cleveland County Library system, said racy books for young adults would probably not end up in the library...
As reading for teens becomes more controversial, some groups are calling for libraries to label graphic books similarly to how records with explicit content are labeled.
Ms. Wakefield said a labeling system might be helpful.
Perhaps parents now have a harder time keeping such things straight, because the "young adult" sections of the bookstores have gotten humongous. I've never seen so many books targeted at teenagers. It's hard to believe that our pool of good authors has suddenly increased tenfold, so my guess is that a lot of the books are the type of useless fiction that adults get stuck with in airport bookstores. Some of the fiction may indeed be more smutty than adults remember.
Regardless, my sympathies with the parents are tempered by the memory of how pissed I was at the age of six when my sister's best friend took her copy of Carrie away from me. I ended up getting the book back, and loving it too.
Posted by kswygert at July 11, 2005 04:24 PM