We are supposed to be preparing for Christmas, but erotic YA is all everyone has been talking about this week. Simon & Schuster UK is exploring (exploiting?) a new erotically-charged genre of fiction for teenagers that has been described as “Judy Blume for the Fifty Shades of Grey generation”. On the one hand, the publishers claim that their goal is to produce “escapist romances, featuring young women, the same age as the readers, exploring their first sexual desires and their first sexual experiences,” on the other, people behind this idea say this - “Young Adult publishers have been looking with envy at Fifty Shades knowing we couldn’t do anything like that. Everybody was trying to work out what would be the next big thing,” so, basically, everything is about $$$$$.
In the same way, our response to this development is two-fold - we would love to see more YA which portrays sex honestly and positively, but at the same time, if it's all about giving something sexy to the women who read YA and also enjoy some fictional BDSM, isn't it better encourage these readers to seek out adult lady porn rather than eroticise fiction that is supposed to be aimed at teen readers and portray their experiences? What are the chances that such novels would even have teen readers and their needs in mind? And when does reading about minors exploring their sexualities, in explicit, erotic ways, by adults become creepy and voyeuristic?
There are two very eloquent responses to this news which are very much worth reading:
Sex, YA Books, and Some "E" Words - by Kelly at Stacked.
And Sex in Mainstream YA - Teen Erotica & The Importance of Good Sex by Ceilidh over at The Book Lantern.
Another post that should not be missed is Laura's I Love... YA at Clear Eyes, Full Shelves. We all can relate to her experiences with discovering and falling in love with teen fiction.
And here is a sweet ode to romance novels - Don't Hide Your Harlequins: In Defense Of Romance. Again, many of of us have been at some point or are fans of this genre of sadly ill repute.
Finally, the last but not least, an interview with our favorite Melina Marchetta on Jo's blog Wear the Old Coat - On Writing: Melina Marchetta on Heroines. Obviously, for us every tiny insight about Melina's writing process and every tidbit of information about her new and old characters is a pleasure to read about.
In the same way, our response to this development is two-fold - we would love to see more YA which portrays sex honestly and positively, but at the same time, if it's all about giving something sexy to the women who read YA and also enjoy some fictional BDSM, isn't it better encourage these readers to seek out adult lady porn rather than eroticise fiction that is supposed to be aimed at teen readers and portray their experiences? What are the chances that such novels would even have teen readers and their needs in mind? And when does reading about minors exploring their sexualities, in explicit, erotic ways, by adults become creepy and voyeuristic?
There are two very eloquent responses to this news which are very much worth reading:
Sex, YA Books, and Some "E" Words - by Kelly at Stacked.
And Sex in Mainstream YA - Teen Erotica & The Importance of Good Sex by Ceilidh over at The Book Lantern.
Another post that should not be missed is Laura's I Love... YA at Clear Eyes, Full Shelves. We all can relate to her experiences with discovering and falling in love with teen fiction.
And here is a sweet ode to romance novels - Don't Hide Your Harlequins: In Defense Of Romance. Again, many of of us have been at some point or are fans of this genre of sadly ill repute.
Finally, the last but not least, an interview with our favorite Melina Marchetta on Jo's blog Wear the Old Coat - On Writing: Melina Marchetta on Heroines. Obviously, for us every tiny insight about Melina's writing process and every tidbit of information about her new and old characters is a pleasure to read about.
