Let’s Talk about Sex (Baby), or How Much Is Too Much in YA?
Even though I’m a relatively new writer—note that I didn’t say “young” writer, since that would just be a flat-out lie. I was already 40 when my first book was accepted for publication and didn’t hit shelves until two years later. (Practically overnight!) That was an adult book—a book for grownups, that is, not an adults-only or NC-17 book. Although since I mention that, I have written some short stories that veer right past “racy” and land squarely in “chicka bow wow” territory.
Wait, where was I? Right, relatively new writer. Despite that, I’ve tended to bounce around different genres and subgenres, from comedy and romance to noir and science fiction, and now my second novel, The Unwanted, I’ve ventured into young adult.
While it’s a YA fantasy, my main character, Jamie, is a sixteen-year-old gay young man and, I don’t know about you, but I remember a lot of my thoughts at that age inevitably turning to, well, what comes naturally.
Sex. I mean sex. (What did you think I meant?)
So I knew that was going to be part of Jamie’s experience, but I then asked myself another question: how much is too much?
It’s probably not something I needed to worry about. Kids, after all, will find books that are explicit about sex if they’re willing to look—in my case, it was Alan Hollinghurst and Edmund White who wrote amazing novels that pulled no punches when it came to sex. And anyway, shocker, parents: books are not making kids have sex. They’re having it anyway. According to the CDC, in a survey of high school students in 2011, 47.4 percent of them reported that they’ve already had sex. So if they’re only reading about it, consider yourself lucky. (To say nothing of watching it. I mean seriously, have you LOOKED at Tumblr lately?)
For that matter, think about it: When did you first have sex? How old is your kid now? Care to do that math? (I don’t think I would, either.)
So how much should a YA writer worry about representations of sex in their work? How much is too much? Is it a writer’s job to worry about it, or is it a writer’s job to worry about writing a truthful experience to the best of our ability? Tie yourself up in that too much, and you’ll be left with two tight paragraphs, all about kittens that your grandma would be so proud of.
For me, even in my writing for adults, I do lean toward the “less is more” camp because I like to leave room for the readers to exercise their imagination. So why would I not want to let YA readers do that? Besides, shying away from topics like sex would be a disservice to the work and, I think, to the readers. I expect smart readers, after all. (Actually, I suspect a lot of my readers will be smarter than me.)
About The Unwanted:
Jamie Thomas has enough trouble on his hands trying to get through junior year of high school without being pulverized by Billy Stratton, his bully and tormentor. But the mother he was always told was dead is actually alive—and she’s an Amazon! Sixteen years after she left him on his father’s doorstep, she’s back… and needs Jamie’s help. A curse has caused the ancient tribe of warrior women to give birth to nothing but boys, dooming them to extinction—until prophecy reveals that salvation lies with one of the offspring they abandoned. Putting his life on the line, Jamie must find the courage to confront the wrath of an angry god to save a society that rejected him.
About Jeffrey:
Jeffrey Ricker is the author of Detours, published in 2011 by Bold Strokes Books, and the YA fantasy The Unwanted. His writing has appeared in the anthologies Fool for Love: New Gay Fiction, Men of the Mean Streets, Speaking Out, and others. A graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, he is completing an MFA at the University of British Columbia. Keep up with his work at www.jeffrey-ricker.com.
WIN A COPY:
Leave a comment below to be entered in a drawing for a free epub copy of The Unwanted!
Sounds wonderful, thanks for the chance to win. And yeah, don’t most kids these days especially have their thoughts turn to sex early and often. So I’m not sure why YA writers aren’t suppose to include sex in their books.
Speaking from my own experience, thoughts of sex occurred frequently when I was a teenager, usually accompanied by massive anxiety. The two continued to go hand in hand for a long time!
Thanks for the opportunity to win. I have some problems with some types of sex in YAs but not going to get into here. A writer is not in control of the reader. Wait maybe they are that is sort of the goal. Oh well people make choices for themselves even YAs. Their choices are their own. If they are influenced by a character in a book again that is their choice and they are responsible not the writer.
Definitely, every reader is going to have a different experience with the book. Sometimes, they find things in there that might never have occurred to the writer—which is pretty cool, when you think about it.
Sounds great. Thank you for the giveaway.
marsh10@netzero.com
I think it depends on the tone and context. There was one m/m YA where the sex itself didn’t seem gratuitous, but the guy’s discussion with his boyfriend’s mother about how well-endowed the men in the family were struck me badly…
I agree. And we could extend that to other genres of writing too. In the end, it comes down to whether it works for the story.
Please count me in as well. Thanks
Thanks for the chance! 🙂
I like fantasy, but I’ve never read YA. Sounds good. Count me in too. 🙂
aelnova@aol.com
Oh, this sounds really good. I would love a chance to win it and if I don’t I’ll probably buy it anyway.
thanks for the chance
Interesting! I was a Gay, Male, Teenage Amazon. I’d read that. Good thing I dedicate a third of my tips to book-buying.
Thanks for the chance to win, the book sounds good. I think as a writer you have to go where the storyline takes you, even in YA books. Sex is a reality in everyday life.
Yes, when writing for teens there is the question, how far to go with everything. Adults see the world and issues in an utterly different light than adolescents. One such thing is sex. For many teens sex is far more important than passing English comp; for others, well parental pressures might make sex so scary and English so vital that Romeo and Juliet is no longer romantic. It’s a fascinating discussion, one with no incorrect opinion. It all depends on what sort of book you are writing, what are the character arcs and what are the plot arcs. I look forward to reading your new book!
Your book sounds like a fun ride. I think you should write the story you want and let the readers decide if it is for them. You don’t need porn level sex but pretending that at 16 you aren’t a slave to your hormones is a joke and the characters would not be complete without that element being included.
Please count me in. Thanks.
I have not read too many young adult. I hope to read this one.
Thanks for leaving comments, everyone! I’m going to assign numbers to each commenter and use this handy dandy random number generator (http://www.random.org/integers/) to pick a winner. I’ll post the result here later today.
I’d love to read this, thank you mevalem258 A T gmail D O T com
And the winner is—drumroll, please—H.B.! H.B., if you can send me your email address at jeffrey@jeffrey-ricker.com, I’ll send you your copy.
Thanks, everyone! And thanks in particular to Sid for hosting this guest post.
congrats H.B !