How YA Romance Novels Quietly Do the Emotional Education That Schools Won’t

“You can’t get pregnant if your boyfriend’s been drinking Mountain Dew,” one student said to another. I couldn’t help myself, “I’m sorry, what?” The girl turned and looked over her shoulder at me, unembarrassed, “Yeah, you’ve never heard that?” “You know that’s not true, right?” I looked between her and her classmate. I was met with blank stares. “And did you know you can get pregnant if you have sex on your period?” “Ew! Ms. DeMarco!” The girls giggled and exchanged glances. Check Your Shelf Sign up to receive Check Your Shelf, the Librarian’s One-Stop Shop For News, Book Lists, And More. “Well, I’m never having sex before I’m ready,” a third girl chimed in. “Ever since reading that book where that girl doesn’t even know she’s pregnant and then throws her baby in the trash, I’m waiting.” That moment stuck with me because it pointed to something I’d been circling for years as both a teacher and a librarian: the adults in that first student’s life had not given her the language or information she needed. And neither, in any official capacity, had the school, but reading a fictional account of real heartbreak informed another student’s personal decisions. The book she was referring t...