Sex is a subject that induces a great many reactions in various people. Indifference, excitement, hilarity, panic, anxiety, amusement, detachment or rage or any cocktail of these emotions can bubble up and stew, especially if you try to imagine a particular body or bodies entwined with yours between the sheets.
Bethany Greene is a self-described “late bloomer”. Actually, everybody says that about her and they’re not wrong. As many a YA novel can tell you, thinking you’re the last of the red-hot virgins can be deeply depressing. Not that Bethany’s in any hurry to do the deed. She’d just like to get a kiss first. She’s suddenly started noticing boys in the romantic sense and she’s got her eyes on certain prospects.
She’s not ignorant of the possibilities. She’s got two mommies, one of her best friends identifies with they/them pronouns and she freely admits she’d hit on the newest admission Poppy Carlisle to the school if Bethany was a lesbian. Bethany is remarkably open minded and that makes this one of the better YA novels out there, one that acknowledges different possibilities when it comes to mixing it up racially, sexually and emotionally.
Jacob Yuen is a taciturn wallflower hiding behind his camera. He’s also a late bloomer and in no hurry to have sex. But his sudden growth spurt has rendered him a magnet for girls and he doesn’t know what to do with the attention. You want to laugh at his inner insecurity. He’s got pretty girls pitching woo at him and he’s nervous? Still, the reader is made to comprehend his reluctance. Another novelistic surprise: boys can be averse to having sex, too.
This YA novel possesses a decided lightheartedness underneath its adolescent angst. It’s already treating nonbinary and gender issues as if they’re no big deal and the central characters are determined not to make romantic trysts the end-all and be-all of their lives.
These opening chapters are solidly written and mature enough that people who’ve graduated from high school two decades ago will have their interest piqued.
Bethany Greene is a self-described “late bloomer”. Actually, everybody says that about her and they’re not wrong. As many a YA novel can tell you, thinking you’re the last of the red-hot virgins can be deeply depressing. Not that Bethany’s in any hurry to do the deed. She’d just like to get a kiss first. She’s suddenly started noticing boys in the romantic sense and she’s got her eyes on certain prospects.
She’s not ignorant of the possibilities. She’s got two mommies, one of her best friends identifies with they/them pronouns and she freely admits she’d hit on the newest admission Poppy Carlisle to the school if Bethany was a lesbian. Bethany is remarkably open minded and that makes this one of the better YA novels out there, one that acknowledges different possibilities when it comes to mixing it up racially, sexually and emotionally.
Jacob Yuen is a taciturn wallflower hiding behind his camera. He’s also a late bloomer and in no hurry to have sex. But his sudden growth spurt has rendered him a magnet for girls and he doesn’t know what to do with the attention. You want to laugh at his inner insecurity. He’s got pretty girls pitching woo at him and he’s nervous? Still, the reader is made to comprehend his reluctance. Another novelistic surprise: boys can be averse to having sex, too.
This YA novel possesses a decided lightheartedness underneath its adolescent angst. It’s already treating nonbinary and gender issues as if they’re no big deal and the central characters are determined not to make romantic trysts the end-all and be-all of their lives.
These opening chapters are solidly written and mature enough that people who’ve graduated from high school two decades ago will have their interest piqued.