All You Need Is Love

In my exploration this week through the impressive number of YA romance books on library shelves, I realize that this theme has come a long way in what is available for teens today. Maybe this is due to the fact that these teens are facing situations that were not admitted to or talked about years ago. With the openness of society today and adult attempts to prepare children for all they will have to face and endure as a part of their growing up process, authors are using these topics to create characters that teens will be able to relate to, learn from, and become comfortable with in their own real life situations.
Covers play an important role in creating that first attraction to a title and this seemed especially true to me as I pulled one book after another off the shelf to expose its “sexy” art work. Who can forget the image of the pair of hands holding the apple on the cover of Twilight depicting the forbidden fruit in the story of Adam and Eve. They also played a part in my choices of romantic titles.


Dark Water by Laura McNeal. 2010. Gr. 8-up.
In this story based in Southern California in 2007 when wildfires spread across the land, Pearl DeWitt lives with her mom on the ranch where her Uncle Hoyt grows 900 avocado trees. He frequently hires migrant workers and Pearl doesn’t pay too much attention to them until she sees Amiel, a young boy who is quiet and keeps to himself. She becomes attracted to him and this attraction leads to a forbidden affair which becomes entangled in the danger of the wildfires. The plot and setting are based in fact making this an entertaining story because of its historical elements besides its romantic ones. There is so much packed into this story for teens to enjoy. Besides the compelling story of forbidden love, this is one full of suspense and historical facts. Readers will see Pearl deal with real life issues of her parents’ divorce and her cousin’s anger at his father’s potential adultery, as she tries to resist her attraction to Amiel. I chose this book because of the cover art and jacket information.


Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. 2010. Grade 9-up.
Nora is a high school sophomore from Portland, ME who is both attracted to and put off by her new biology partner. He seems to know all her thoughts. She soon finds out that he is a fallen angel who wants to become human and she becomes susceptible to his influence. The supernatural theme with questions as to whether fallen angels really exist will draw readers in as will the story of forbidden love.
I chose this book because of its alluring cover. In reading the jacket, I found that it was a story of a fallen angel, a mystery that has always intrigued me.



Keeping You A Secret by Julie Anne Peters. 2005. Gr. 9-up.
This is a story of teenage first love involving a high school girl, Holland Jaeger, who seems to know what she wants as we are introduced to Holland going steady with a nice looking boy and thinking about attending college in the fall until she meets Cece Goddard whom she is attracted to and realizes she loves. They grow closer and become committed to each other, a course that causes Holland to lose her friends and face the harsh discrimination of those around her and especially the anger of her mother who throws her out of the house. This is a story that will have teens thinking about the real complications of same sex relationships and the antigay slurs and hatred that are sometimes the consequence. I chose this book on a recommendation of a teen I know who had read the book.