Monday, May 12, 2014

DON'T TELL: BANNED!

Banned?  Well, not officially banned, but here's the story:  I asked a newspaper editor for a review of my YA novel, Don't Tell.  Before giving the book to a young reporter, he read it himself.  Here's what he had to say:

"You are an excellent writer, sometimes brilliant." (I like that part.)  " . . . the sexual content in your book is so vivid and so omnipresent that  I am extremely uncomfortable with it . . .  I certainly wouldn't give it to an 18-year-old . . .  to review.   " . . . I'm really uncomfortable with this book."

He refused a review because of the sex.  I know and like this editor, and I don't want make this about him, because really he's just a victim of our screwed (excuse the pun) up culture.  Don't Tell has been out for about five minutes and already it is causing an uproar.  Here are some comments from my devoted fans on this hot topic:

*"I don't get it.  How old does he think you need to be to have sex and to experiment?"  

*"We all do it, we all enjoy it, we all find meaning in it--yet we're afraid to discuss it, describe it, or detail it publicly. Those Puritan and Old Testament bonds are strong, man."

*"This adolescent female virginity thing is still so suffocating and unhealthy."  

*"Yes, I'm concerned about teenage pregnancy and children being raised in broken families and all, but those issues are negatively affected by our national blue-lipped embarrassment about how much people enjoy sex. Jeezum crowbies."

* "Hunger Games, about killing kids, is okay? but having fun sex isn't?" 

*"So much for the first amendment, eh?" 

* ". . . if you publish a YA novel that has lots of sex, especially I guess 'non-traditional' sex, you're going to get push-back from adults who have either forgotten what they got up to when they were teenagers or more sadly never did get up to much."

I have a feeling this is just the beginning of older readers thinking that Don't Tell is about sex.  It's not.  It's about secrets.  And how they harm us. It's about strength and empowerment and friendship, and telling the truth.

Is there sex in the book?  You bet there is.  Is it inappropriate?  I don't think so.  You be the judge.  You can order it here: Don't Tell for paperback or here: Don't Tell - Kindle

4 comments:

  1. Jeepers. Now I'm entirely intrigued ... and thinking that maybe once a person hits, say, 25 or 30, he (or she) forgets, willfully or otherwise, exactly what it is that teenagers know and do.

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  2. Oh Anna-Monet, you should totally read it. But what is it about "adulthood" that makes maturity equate willful memory loss?

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  3. I think the sex is interesting! And necessary. It's not gratuitous in my opinion.

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  4. Dear Lava,

    I bet your book is "brilliant." =) I can't wait to read it.

    Thank you for being so honest and awesome.

    Take care,
    Emma

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