Keeping it real

I started querying this week and, suffice it to say, I've come down with refreshbuttonitis.  So I picked up some books outside of my subgenre to read for a change.  Yesterday I finished The DUFF, and well, I have a girl crush on Kody Keplinger.  If you haven't read The DUFF, go out and get it now, I'll wait.

The book is raw and authentic, and if you want a glimpse into the inner-workings of a teenage girl's mind, it's your ticket.  Oh, and it talks frankly about and depicts sex, which for me = major brownie points.  There's a lot of discussions on forums and blogs about sex in YA and what is/is not permissible.  I'll just say what I always have - teens have sex, always have, always will.  They think about it.  They obsess over it.  And as the novel's bad boy points out, it's a natural chemical reaction.

I've read a lot of decent books where the teens just don't sound like teens lately, and The DUFF doesn't have that issue.  Even as someone who's been out of school for a while now, it put me right back in the halls of Truman High School.

So to wrap it up - go read The DUFF now!