Note: The following is an excerpt from “Not Another Teen Love Story Stories about Love and Sex in the #MeToo Era” by Rachel Seigel originally published in the Summer 2022 issue of Canadian Children’s Book News.
Young adult romance (including television and movies) has often been blasted for unrealistic and even dangerous portrayals of teenage love, making it difficult for teens to understand what real healthy relationships look like. In the last decade, and particularly in the #MeToo era, realistic young adult fiction portraying all kinds of relationships has become increasingly important for not only teens, but also for parents and educators who are searching for ways to start or broaden conversations about sex, sexuality, and intimacy.
Research shows that whether adults want to admit it or not, sex or thoughts of sex are part of the real world lives of teens, and until recently, the topic of sex was either ignored or presented in a false and misleading way. Experts also warn that leaving sex out of young adult literature teaches teens that sex/sexuality is such a bad thing that it shouldn’t even be written about. It also drives them to the internet to find information, and what they find isn’t necessarily going to teach them how to navigate relationships.
Teens learn through the material they consume, and while teen rom-com movies and novels have a place, the stories with gorgeous, eloquent teens who have it all together and fall instantly in love are unrealistic and create a standard that real people can’t live up to. In creating honest, thought-provoking human stories with diverse characters and experiences that mirror the real lives of teens, Canadian young adult authors are helping teens make connections, see themselves, and to better understand the complicated world of sex, romance, and relationships.
Book List
The Big Reveal
Written by Jen Larsen
Square Fish, 2022
IL: Ages 14-18 RL: Grades 9-10
Addie’s a talented dancer, a true-blue friend, and a fat, fierce, and driven young woman. When she’s accepted into a prestigious dance company but doesn’t have the funds, Addie and her friends organize a ticketed burlesque show to raise the cash. But word gets out, and the slut- and body-shaming begin. Has Addie been resisting the patriarchy or playing right into its hands? Explores themes of body positivity, empowerment, friendship, and determination.
***
Denial
Written by Lorna Shultz Nicholson
Lorimer, 2022
IL: Ages 13-18 RL: Grades 8-9
It’s Nova’s final year of high school and everything is on track for an amazing year. She’s going to ace all her studies and go on to be a doctor. She’s got a spot on the swim team. And she’s in love for the first time—with Leo, the captain of the swim team.
But things don’t turn out quite like Nova had planned. As her relationship with Leo intensifies, so does her obsession with him and her jealousy over his so-called friendship with another girl. The tighter she tries to hold on to him, the more he seems to pull away. The constant worry about the future of their relationship sends Nova spiralling into depression. Even she can’t believe how badly she’s handling things now. But could there be another reason for it, one she doesn’t even want to admit to herself?
“Through Nova, Nicholson wants teens to know that while first love can be intense, it’s not what media drives it to be, and if it doesn’t work out, it’s not their fault. As Nova learns, the end of a relationship didn’t mean the end of her life,” says Rachel Seigel.
***
Exit, Pursued By a Bear
Written by E.K. Johnston
Penguin Young Readers Group, 2017
IL: Ages 14-18 RL: Grades 9-10
Hermione Winters has been a flyer and is captain of her cheerleading team. But this summer’s training camp is Hermione’s last and marks the beginning of the end of… she’s not sure what. In a few months, she’ll be a different person and she thinks she is ready. Then, during a camp party, someone slips something into her drink. And it all goes black.
“Exit, Pursued by a Bear is a story about a girl. A cautionary tale about someone who didn't want to be a cautionary tale. An important book for girls. For boys. For adults. For mothers and fathers and daughters and sons and girlfriends and boyfriends. An important book without being an 'Issue Book.'" praised author Jessica Day George.
The novel won the Amy Mathers Teen Book Award in 2017.
***
First Times: Short Stories about Sex
Edited by Karine Glorieux
Translated by Shelley Tanaka
Groundwood Books, 2025
IL: Ages 14-18 RL: Grades 9-10
First Times: Short Stories About Sex collects nine stories by nine different authors, writing from a vast range of perspectives, cultural backgrounds and sexual orientations—revealing how unreasonable it is to define ourselves by a single, overhyped moment. A balm for adolescent anxiety, this inclusive collection offers sometimes imperfect but always frank short stories of first sexual experiences.
"First Times ... provides an excellent starting point for conversations that parents may have difficulty initiating themselves, and offers realistic reassurance for young people that what they are experiencing is completely normal in all of its weird, embarrassing, and confusing glory," says Quill & Quire.
***
Firsts
Written by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn
St. Martin’s Press, 2016
IL: Ages 14-18 RL: Grades 9-10
Seventeen-year-old Mercedes Ayres has an open-door policy when it comes to her bedroom, but the guy must be a virgin. Mercedes lets the boys get their awkward fumbling first times over with, and all she asks in return is that they give their girlfriends the perfect first time—the kind Mercedes never had. When Mercedes’ system collapses, she must figure out where her heart really belongs.
“Research has proven that when it comes to sex, boys and girls are held to a different standard of behaviour, and Flynn’s novel is an excellent exposition of this double standard,” says Rachel Seigel.
***
Hacking Heartbreak
Written by Kevin heronJones
Lorimer, 2022
IL: Ages 14-18 RL: Grades 3-4
Baron is a computer whiz with a passion for hacking and when the girl of his dreams starts taking an interest in him, he all but short circuits. Keyanna sees their dates as more casual than the love-struck Baron, but everything seems to be going well. When he sees her on a date with another guy, Baron hacks her school and social media accounts, angry and hurt.
As jealousy fades and reality sets in, Baron realizes the seriousness of his action. Knowing regret will never be enough, Baron races against the clock to fix his mess.
Kevin heronJones’s latest is another realistic, authentic depiction of the life of a Black youth in Canada. Set in Brampton, Hacking Heartbreak is a story about the intensity of first love and learning to live with the consequences of your actions.
***
He Must Like You
Written by Danielle Younge-Ullman
Tundra Books, 2022
IL: Ages 14-18 RL: Grades 9-10
Libby’s having a rough senior year. When Perry Ackerman, notorious lech and customer at the restaurant where she waitresses, pushes her over the edge, she douses him with a pitcher of sangria. Now she must navigate the fallout of her outburst, deal with her increasing rage at the guys who’ve screwed up her life—–and her increasing crush on the one guy who truly gets her.
A finalist for the Amy Mathers Teen Book Award in 2021, the novel has been praised for its realistic and sensitive portrayal of teenage sexual relationships and for offering teens a much-needed look at workplace harassment and consent.
***
If I Tell You the Truth
Written by Jasmin Kaur
HarperCollins Publishers, 2021
IL: Ages 14-18 RL: Grades 9-10
Kiran flees Punjab for a fresh start in Canada after a sexual assault leaves her pregnant. But overstaying her visa and living undocumented brings perils for both her and her daughter, Sahaara. When Sahaara learns the truth about her mother’s past, she decides to seek justice—even if it means challenging a powerful and dangerous man.
Exploring themes of trauma, courage, community, and resilience, the novel was a finalist for the Amy Mathers Teen Book Award in 2022.
***
Like a Love Story
Written by Abdi Nazemian
Balzer + Bray, 2019
IL: Ages 13-18 RL: Grades 8-9
New York City, 1989. For three teens, the world is changing. Judy is an aspiring fashion designer. Art, an out and proud teen, is Judy’s best friend. Reza, from Iran, is terrified of being outed. Reza, dating Judy but attracted to Art, must find a way to stop living a lie that doesn’t break Judy’s heart—so he can keep the most meaningful friendship he’s ever known.
The novel was selected as a Stonewall Honor Book and named by Time Magazine as one of The Best 100 YA Books of All Time
***
The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali
Written by Sabina Khan
Scholastic Inc., 2019
IL: Ages 14-18 RL: Grades 9-10
Seventeen-year-old Rukhsana Ali is unable to come out to her conservative Muslim parents. She keeps that part of her identity hidden. And that means keeping her girlfriend, Ariana, a secret from them, too. But when Rukhsana's mom catches her and Ariana together, her future begins to collapse around her.
Devastated and confused, Rukhsana's parents whisk her off to stay with their extended family in Bangladesh where, along with the loving arms of her grandmother and cousins, she is met with a world of arranged marriages, religious tradition, and intolerance. Fortunately, Rukhsana finds allies along the way and, through reading her grandmother's old diary, finds the courage to take control of her future and fight for her love.
“Khan does an excellent job of portraying the real dangers and challenges that teens from all walks of life face when coming out to non-accepting families and stresses the importance of hanging onto one’s culture while still being true to oneself. Khan is also careful to portray a varied set of reactions from Rukhsana’s religious and geographical community and to show that not everybody (including her grandmother and her cousin) thinks the same way,” says Rachel Seigel.
***
The Summer of Bitter & Sweet
Written by Jen Ferguson
Heartdrum, 2022
IL: Ages 13-18 RL: Grades 8-9
Lou faces a summer working at her family’s ice cream shack with her ex-boyfriend and her long-absent former best friend. On top of that, she gets a letter from her biological father—the white man who raped her Métis mother—who’s out of jail and wants to talk to her. A powerful novel about the sweetness that can live alongside the bitterest truth.
The novel was awarded the Governor General’s Literary Award for Young People's Literature, named a Stonewall Honor Book, and was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award in 2023.
***
Then Everything Happens at Once
Written by M-E Girard
HarperCollins Publishers, 2023
IL: Ages 14-18 RL: Grades 9-10
Sixteen-year-old Baylee’s had a crush on her best friend Freddie for years but doesn’t believe he’d be interested in a fat girl like her. Then Baylee meets Alex online and she starts to fall for her. Just as things with Freddie shift AND a pandemic shuts the world down, Baylee is left navigating the messy waters of love and desire.
A significant piece of pandemic-era literature, this novel explores ideas of sexuality, body image, first love, and family.
***
Union
Written by Sara Cassidy
Orca Book Publishers, 2022
IL: Ages 12-18 RL: Grades 8-9
Fifteen-year-old Tuck navigates new love, past trauma and standing up for what's right in this novel in verse. Tuck has been traumatized from being sexually abused by his mother’s boyfriend. But as he falls in love with his childhood friend Grace, he begins to imagine a happier life. When he is asked to explore starting a union at his workplace, Tuck finds a new sense of purpose and the strength to begin the healing process. This novel is notable for its sensitive depiction of a young man’s journey towards healing from sexual abuse.
***
Wish Upon a Satellite
Written by Sophie Labelle
Second Story Press, 2022
IL: Ages 13-18 RL: Grades 8-9
The glaciers are melting and the climate crisis is on their mind, but nothing shakes the foundations of non-binary teen Ciel’s world more than sharing an unexpected kiss with their best friend, Stephie. Everything they thought was clear is suddenly all mixed up—and that’s without the new problems at school: sexting, peer pressure, and overdue book reports.
“Labelle also explores the important issues of sexting, consent, and boundaries in a subplot about an underage student whose nude photos are leaked to the entire school via e-mail. Sexting has become increasingly common amongst teenagers, and the novel illustrates the risks and consequences of their online activity,” says Rachel Seigel.
***