Submarine

by Joe Dunthorne, c. 2008, Hamish Hamilton, 290 pages.

Fifteen year old Oliver Tate is a boy obsessed. He is equally obsessed with his parent’s failing marriage (and lack of sexual activity) and learning new words from the dictionary. Another obsession is losing his virginity—and soon. Though he finds himself entwined in a relationship with the eczematous and occasionally pyromaniacal Jordana, his precocious awkwardness eventually isolates him from her.

Oliver is at times callous and detached as he takes a clinical view of those around him. This makes him a tough character to like in those moments. Luckily there are more moments throughout the novel Submarine in which Oliver reveals the awkwardness and anxiety of adolescence allowing him to become relatable to readers. This is a very darkly funny novel.

Never Let Me Go

by Kazuo Ishiguro. Knopf (2005), Hardcover, 304 pages.

A quiet yet potent tale about three young people who are fated to brief lives because of their role in a society now free of disease. This story unfolds in an alternate version of the near past and much of it takes place in the remembrances of an idyllic (and disturbing) boarding school in a scenic English countryside. This novel is a heartbreak and the questions it leaves a reader with is why I highly recommended this book.

forever...

Title: forever...
Author: Judy Blume
Publication date: 1975
Number of pages: 192
Genre: Young Adult fiction
Geographical Setting: suburban New Jersey
Time Period: mid 1970s
Series: N/A

Plot Summary: Katherine meets Michael at a New Year’s party. There is an instant attraction between them and they soon begin dating each other exclusively. Katherine comes from a very open family without many rules including no curfew and a grandmother who sends her information from Planned Parenthood. She isn’t very wild though, gets decent grades, plays tennis very well and is still a virgin. Michael wants to have sex with Katherine but is understanding of her hesitance and takes things slow (as much as he can and as much as Katherine insists). As they negotiate and explore their romantic and sexual relationship, Katherine learns more about her own responsibilities that come with having sex. As their senior year is coming to an end, they have professed their love to one another and make plans for their summer together and their future afterwards.

Subject Headings: first love, high school graduation, first sexual experiences, teen sex, teen pregnancy, homosexuality, 1970s, birth control, Planned Parenthood

Appeal: written by one of America’s #1 children’s and young adult authors, frequently challenged book, candid discussion of sex and sexuality, colloquial language, sex in the 1970s before HIV/AIDS, experience of first love as a teen and belief it will last “forever,” giving a baby up for adoption as a teen, self responsibility to obtain birth control and use birth control, dilemma of the realization of sexual desires for someone other than one’s boyfriend

If you like forever..., you might enjoy: Judy Blume’s Deenie. Louise Rennison’s Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging. Sarah Dessen’s Someone Like You. Stephie Davis’ Smart Boys and Fast Girls.