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Odds & Ends On the Web: December 22nd Edition

12/22/2012

6 Comments

 
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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.

6 Comments
Keertana @ Ivy Book Bindings link
12/22/2012 05:19:17 am

Yet another wonderful edition of "Odds and Ends"! Like you, I'm a little torn about this new genre being created for teens. I definitely think we need more positive sex in YA, but I can't see this genre really appealing to teens all that much. It seems to me as if it would be too similar to adult romance/erotica fiction and not the level that it needs to be for teens, but we'll see. If they can pull it off, it'll be excellent for sure! I have a feeling it'll have its positives and negatives, much like the New Adult Genre. Anyway, thanks for sharing! :)

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Tatiana (The Readventurer) link
12/22/2012 09:11:52 am

I just hope they will not only publish awful romances with extra sex in them. That serves no purpose. There is already plenty of explicit romances in the adult market, teens have always had access to them as it is.

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Kate Traylor link
12/23/2012 05:13:09 am

Ugh, you're right--the idea of eroticizing YA to appeal to adult readers is really icky. I guess that's one good reason to have NA as a genre--and maybe YA publishers should be looking into some sexy NA, rather than just putting more sex in their YA. :/

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Cassie link
12/27/2012 02:31:46 am

Yikes! I hadn't even heard about this. But, of course, sex, even fairly graphic, isn't exactly new in YA. I like the odds & ends feature. You always bring such interesting knew things to my attention.

Reply
VeganYANerds link
12/28/2012 05:50:10 pm

Like you guys, I'm all for more realistic, honest sex scenes/discussions in YA but I have a feeling this won't be realistic, it will be fake "I saw fireworks" type of scenes. But I guess we'll have to wait and see!

And I love Laura's post, she lists all the reasons why I too love YA!

I hope you all had a wonderful Xmas and are enjoying the holidays xox

Reply
laurie g
12/29/2012 09:17:14 pm

I really enjoyed Scarlet too! Thanks for the giveaway!

Reply



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