Oh not me again! Yes, its me again, sadly. Well, I'm in the midst of writing the first draft of my Novel. My MC has conflict with her best friend and her BF dislikes her now as my MC betrayed her. I was thinking, as this does happen, that my MC betrayed her friend because she got isolated and teased a lot because of her best friend's sexuality. I was thinking..would that be like..not appropriate? If this does get published one day, I don't want my readers thinking 'omg lesbian! ewie' *puts down book* Opinions please? Thanks
Young people are usually pretty tolerant and I don't think they'll have a problem with it...it's more parents not wanting them to read the book I'd be concerned about. But the times they are a changing. The only really big danger with this sort of thing is that of your work being marketed as "lesbian fiction" and being perceived as a book intended mostly for gay audiences. But since the book is more about her reaction to her gay friend (or others' reactions to her gay friend) I don' t think that's going to happen. I think it's about time gay issues were approached from the point of view of straight people...instead of a melodramatic "why don't they accept her" it becomes more complex as you explore why people might reject socially ostracized people...there is stuff at stake for them as well! This makes them more sympathetic and makes people even more compassionate in the end because they realize how many obstacles to acceptance there really are. PS. This is one of my favorite themes, and it is a major element in the story I am working on now (although not in a gay context). So it gets thumbs up from me.
It should be fine. The TV show Pretty Little Liars is popular right now among female teens and it has one of the main characters as a lesbian and shows her and her girlfriend kissing. I don't think it squicks too many people out. But there's always a homophobe in every corner.
Do it, YA readers are not fragile little glass things. If something bothers them, they can put the book down and move on with their lives, no biggie. But I think most teen readers would like your book.
It's not the subject, but the treatment that would make the determination. If you avoid being lurid and write with sensitivity, even the most conservative out there would be hard pressed to get rankled. For the older end of YA, you could even get a *little* graphic in the romance and not be too untoward, imho. -Frank
I don't see why it should be a problem at all. The world is made up of different sorts of people and it can only be a good thing that diversity is reflected in what we read.
According to a high school teacher I spoke to (I work in a bookstore) the latest trend is gay and lesbian fiction - and I know that several of the most asked-for novels contain homosexual characters. So I don't think anything that vaguely applies it will be at all offensive to some teens, and to others it might just go over their heads. It's the parents that are more likely to find problem with it. The Cherubs series by Robert Muchamore which are EXTREMELY popular, feature a gay character, although he's not the main character. They're good books actually, I highly recommend them.
