Kratos I didn't mean for it to be an insult. I do apologize. Not all teenagers can read Dune for instance, with out sort of being lost. I read many reviews of Dune, and a lot of them said as a teenager they didn't like Dune, but when they read it again as an adult, they loved it. They said because as a teenager they didn't fully grasp everything. Marina, I am also sorry that you took it as an insult, and to everyone who else did as well. Maia, yes it is said that humans have to die so young, but if I make it to 70, I will count it as a blessing.
Why should the age of the characters influence whether or not it gets published? And the people who write for a teenage audience and think that they shouldn't write it just as intelligently as they would an adult novel are the ones who fail miserably. The use of language is teen books tends to be difference because teenagers talk differently, not because it's not as smart. People forget that teenagers are perfectly capable of reading at an adult level. They go to the teen books not because it's easier to understand. They go to them to get books that are relevant and for characters that they can easily identify with. I've also seen lots of adult adventure books that are much easier reads that teenage lit.
Check out Judy Blume's novel Forever. That has lots of sex it in at it was published for teenagers in the 1970's.
Why? Is it critical to the plot? How it will go over depends on how it is presented, and whether it's relevant to the story or merely thrown in salaciously.
