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?

I left off yesterday saying my problem with it’s all about us was that it set out to deliver a sex book with “the added impact of a spiritual worldview” and it ended up not working as a sex book or as a Christian book or as a compelling story.

Why do I say this?

It didn’t make it as a sex book because the sex hinted at, never was delivered. The main character—Lissa, is a tease in the book and Adina comes across as tease in real life. At one point Lissa’s unsaved boyfriend tells her they can do stuff to make each other feel good without her breaking her promise to God to remain a virgin. “You can make me feel really good. I can make you feel the same way. And no loss of anything you want to keep, guaranteed.”

Lissa doesn’t slap him and walk out. No, she starts polling her friends to find out just how far she can go. Later she makes plans to spend the night with him in a private room and he gets there and after the two previous hot kissing scenes we’re hoping to see a little action, if you know what I mean.

Not only does Adina not give us any action onstage, she doesn’t tell us what the kids did offstage. Later Lissa makes it clear to the reader that “that hadn’t happened” meaning she didn’t go all the way. But after all the build up I think it’s a breach of contract for the author to not tell us exactly how far Lissa did go.

Instead of showing us how far, or even telling us how far, Adina has the whole “hot and bothered, we can’t keep our hands off of one another” crush, die. In one flash, it’s over. Amazingly the kids find they can keep their hands (and their lips) off of one another. So this book didn’t deliver on the sex.

But it didn’t work as a Christian book, either.

Because of all the sex in it, for one thing.

Huh? I thought there was no sex.

Oh, there was plenty of sex and panting and lust. Way more than any Christian girl had any business engaging in.

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

I know.

Not enough sex for readers who want the sex and too much sex for readers who don’t want the sex. I’m not sure if it’s even possible to write a Christian teen/sex-saturated/chick lit book.

Adina sure gave it a good try. And she came up with a book that really kept me turning pages. Amazing, considering I HATE this kind of book. I’m telling you, if you like silly teen chick lit books about self-absorbed girls with too much money and time on their hands, you’ll love this one. It’s well done. It’s witty and the dialogue really snaps.

And Adina does a good job of preaching without preaching, I think. She does have Lissa learn that she should have been praying instead of fantasizing. I give her a great big round of applause for that. Lissa was shallow and stupid and she traded God in for a hottie. She was sorry later. Good deal.

And yet the whole book falls short because the premise doesn’t work as a Christian book or as a compelling story.

The main character is a rich girl (her father’s a movie director) who has to leave her high school and all her friends and start over in eleventh grade at a boarding school for rich kids. She wants to be in the popular crowd like she was before she moved.

That’s it.

Her goal is to be accepted by the popular kids. What if she fails in this goal? Will she die? Will she suffer physical pain? Will her parents disown her? Will she lose something important. . .like, does she have a bet and if she loses it she loses her virginity? No, nothing like that. Nothing at all, in fact. If she can’t get in with the popular kids she just has to live as one of the other kids.

Who cares?

She name drops constantly. (It’s hard to root for a girl who is on a first name basis with George Lucas and Angelina Jolie.) Her toughest day was when she had to pull an all-nighter because she’d been too busy fooling around with her hottie boyfriend to do her homework on time, and her teacher, monster that he was, wouldn’t give her an extension. After that harrowing experience she has to go out for some serious “retail therapy.” OK, I don’t know about you, but I find the whole retail therapy deal to be more offensive than the hottie boyfriend trying to talk her into going everywhere short of all the way. He’s not a Christian. He’s pretty noble telling her it’s OK with him if she doesn’t want to have sexual intercourse. It’s not surprising or offensive that he wants some other kind of intercourse.

But for her to turn to retail therapy when she’s down and for no one to ever suggest that this is grossly sinful really bothers me. I mean what’s the difference between turning to retail therapy and turning to drugs or sex or rock and roll? Turning to anything but God is idolatry. And yet, even the strong Christian girl (comparatively) calls shopping “retail therapy” and doesn’t seem to see anything wrong with spending thousands of dollars on a dress and finding some kind of soul-soothing satisfaction in that.

Add to the shallow character goals, the obvious plot resolution and the too-easy wrap up with the bothersome, unbelieving, hottie boyfriend who started out nice and conveniently turned nasty, and you have a story that doesn’t quite satisfy.

And I hate to say that because I think Shelly Adina is a great writer and I think she’s trying to do something good for teen girls with these books.

I hope to find in future books that she digs a little deeper. She’s certainly talented enough to pull off some great, memorable books.

Tomorrow (or the next day. Whatever! You’re not paying for this so don’t even think about complaining if I don’t post on time) I’ll tell you why, even with all the negatives I’ve thrown at you, I think mothers should buy this book and read and discuss it with their daughters.