This young adult novel follows a teenage girl and her developing sexual curiosity. The narrator is a high school girl named Katherine who shares with us her journey of finding true love and experiencing her first time. The book opens with Katherine at a New Years Eve party, where she meets Michael. Michael and Katherine begin to date and the pressures to have sex only increase with time. The book discusses the stresses and difficulties associated with a girl's decision to have sex. Is it okay to just give in to your physical urges or should you wait for "the one"? This is a question that Katherine seems to have difficulty with, a question that many young readers could relate to as well.
Even though I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and it could very well have been book I would have liked to read in my free time, I do not think it is appropriate to teach in any classroom. Even though themes like sex are inevitable topics of discussion and worries in a teenager's life, I don't think those topics should be taught explicitly in a classroom. Some students view this topic in very different ways and some could feel awkward and uncomfortable being forced to talk about their personal feelings in the context of the learning environment. The sex scenes are pretty extravagant and detailed and I could potentially see parents getting very upset about the contents of the novel. I think that it is tough to give this book a specific age group because it honestly depends on that specific student's maturity level and personal feelings regarding sex. The novel sends a really good message to teenagers about sex and I think that girls can really relate with Katherine.
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