I came across this post by Jennifer Banash, about Laura Halse Anderson’s Wintergirls.

I’ve never read Banash or Anderson, but I believe they are probably both good writers. Wintergirls sure sounds like it is excellently executed.

The thing is, I have no desire to read books about anorexia. Or suicide. Nope, I’ve not read Th1rteen R3asons Why. I simply can’t make myself start these books. I want action, humor, romance, good vs. evil. I want danger, but only if there is hope.

So recently I’ve been writing to publicists to line up books for the KidzBookBuzz tour and I’m finding that I’m not attracted to many of the contemporary YA books. What does that say about me? I guess I either don’t like our society and the young adults living in it, or the contemporary YA books aren’t accurately reflecting our society and the young adults living in it.

I know teens are attracted to some dark, angsty things. I know there is a period where the darker something is, the more profound it feels. Pollyannas are seen as shallow and stupid. Angsty, morose people are deep and mysterious. I get that.

But most kids don’t kill themselves. Most kids aren’t anorexic. Most kids don’t have sex every day. Most kids aren’t drug addicts.

Or am I wrong about this?

When I was in school there was a segment of the population doing drugs, drinking and having sex. It was not a majority. There were a couple of suicides. I’m willing to believe that drugs, sex, and rock and roll are all more prevalent now. I still don’t want to read about people starving themselves.

It’s great that Anderson is serving up what a lot of teens want to read. I don’t mean to try to muzzle her. And there are plenty of YA books for me and my tastes, so I’m not crying about having nothing to read. But what I’m wondering is if there are any contemporary YA books for me. I’m just curious about this trend I think I see for dark and/or sex-filled YA literature. Anyone know of any contemporary YA books with characters who don’t do drugs, have sex (with the opposite sex or the same sex), commit suicide, have eating disorders, or mutilate themselves (cutting or breaking bones)?

I guess the question is: Is there more to teen life than drugs, sex, and feeling like a misfit? MG novels are about family and faith and growing up and holding on to your integrity. In an MG a contemporary character might fight crime, or save a friend, or walk beside a friend who has cancer. What happens at the age of fourteen that suddenly turns kids into self-destructive, amoral individuals? Or maybe they aren’t amoral. Maybe they’re just confused. Still, can a seventeen-year-old boy face a conflict that is not drug or sex related?  

Alan Gratz has some mysteries out that I love. There is sex in them, but they aren’t about sex. Well some of them aren’t. Any others out there?

Is anyone writing clean, bright, hope-filled contemporary YAs, and if they are writing them, are they selling them?