Author: L.C. Rosen
What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Jack is an openly gay high school student who is not ashamed of his active sex life. He agrees to write an "anonymous" (technically--most students know he's the writer) teen sex advice column for his friend. Jack enjoys giving advice until someone begins leaving notes in his locker that start out admiring but become threatening. Can Jack figure out who his stalker is before his friends and family are in danger?
What I think: Hey guess what?? This book talks about sex!! And boy, was it ever mentioned in every review and article I read about the book. Even all of the blurbs on the cover are about how sex-positive the book is. I was actually getting tired of reading every reviewer mention sex, but my curiosity (and excellent employee discount at work) got the best of me, so I bought this book the day it came out.
I am definitely no prude (my large collection of romance and erotica on my bookshelf is exhibit A), but I was afraid that this book would contain:
A. Sexual experiences that are unrealistically too good for high school students
B. A bunch of high school students acting like twenty-somethings instead of teenagers
C. A bunch of scenes of realistically-awkward teenage sex scenes
D. A world that was so sex-positive and LGBTQ-accepting that it makes a David Levithan book world look old-fashioned in comparison
E. All sex no plot
I can excited report the book contains NONE OF THE ABOVE. I am now going back to each of my unfounded fears and address them.
A. Sexual experiences that are unrealistically too good for high school students. First of all, yes, the characters in this book have sex, and yes the main character is very sex-positive, but this book is not about sex: this book talks about sex. All of the actual sex happens off-page.
Jack's column is like reading the Sexual Health and Identity section of Teen Vogue, which has been criticized by many who claim that the sexual advice given in the online-only magazine is too "raunchy" for teenagers.
I am definitely NOT one of the complainers. I love Teen Vogue and their articles. As a former public school teacher (15 years working with teenagers daily), I have experienced sex-ed going from meh to completely terrible to the ridiculous abstinence-only. Since they are not getting it in school and not all parents feel comfortable, teenagers need to read honest, practical articles from publications like Teen Vogue.
We need more, HONEST discussions about sex in high schools!!! I cannot stress this enough.
Jack's first column about anal sex is realistic and honest and would make Activist Mommy's (not linking to her) head explode! I also found myself nodding along with his column about fetishization of gay boys by straight girls. Many people (in my experience) realize that straight men being turned on by lesbians can often cause the women to be objectified, but I have never read anything before that discusses how gay men can be objectified by straight women. And this needs to be addressed more often! I mean, it's okay to be turned on by whatever floats your boat, but watch how you express that "preference," so you are not coming across as a big jerk. People are not objects for your enjoyment.
My favorite column of Jack's, however, is the one he writes to a student who is not interested in sex. He does not act shocked or judgmental; he merely says that not dating, waiting for a serious relationship, or not being interested in sex at all is all normal and okay. Poor high school virginal me would have really appreciated that column. Not everyone in high school is super into partying and sleeping around.
Some of us are still introverts who hide at parties and play on our phones. Thank God for books and the Internet.
The only column I wish Jack would have written would have been one talking about pan/bisexuality--yes, it's a real thing; no, it's not a stop along the road to gay-town; no it does not mean you have sexual attraction to everyone you meet regardless. Just Because I am Pan/Bi Doesn't Mean I Want To Sleep with You: A Novella. (My future best-seller! 😉)
B. A bunch of high school students acting like twenty-somethings instead of teenagers. Oh my goodness this bugs me SO MUCH in YA books. It makes me imagine a bunch of editors in suits sitting around a big table (who probably never read books anyway), saying, "Let's make the twenty-somethings in your book high school students and we'll conquer the YA market!"
Thankfully, this was not the case in Jack of Hearts. Jack's voice is authentic and definitely sounds like a teenage boy.
Jack and his friends, even though they live in rich-people New York where teenagers can afford to throw lavish parties (I cannot relate to THAT, sadly), behave like realistic teenagers. Jack, with all of his self-confident boasting about how comfortable he is with himself, is incredibly insecure about how he looks and is self-centered in a normal, teenage boy way. The characters are not all white (Ben is African-American, for example), but they are all privileged economically.
Jack makes some choices in the book that make me want to smack him, cries when he gets upset, and worries about his mother. These are all realistic high school behaviors. And his friend Ben, who sews for the drama department? I know many "Bens." For me, he is the most relatable character in the whole book. I'm friends with many Bens!
C. A bunch of scenes of realistically-awkward teenage sex scenes. Jack writes about them, but we as readers do not experience them in real-time, which is fine with me. I would not have minded if we had, I guess, but it doesn't seem necessary in the book. There is definitely enough mentioned, and Jack does not sugarcoat descriptions when he describes them in his column.
D. A world that was so sex-positive and LGBTQ-accepting that it makes a David Levithan book world look old-fashioned in comparison. Don't get me wrong; I love David Levithan's books, and I enjoy the worlds those books are set in. But I wanted realism and relatability this time, and Jack of Hearts delivered.
Of course, some of the realistic parts break my heart and frustrate me because they are a bit too relatable. For example, Jack's judgmental principal is, unfortunately, uncomfortably similar to an old boss of mine. And poor Jack has to deal with people saying to and emailing to him homophobic slurs; he is so used to them that he shrugs them off, but the fact that a**hole kids are using those words to him makes Mama Bear ANGRY.
Also, Jack's reputation makes people assume things about him, much like a sexually promiscuous girl of any sexual orientation. And would a straight high school boy be judged because he is known for having a lot of sex? Definitely not. But anyone else? Yep.
Then there's the victim-blaming--several times I was annoyed because Jack was not reporting the stalking to the police, but he has a good point: his reputation precedes him, and anything he has ever done would be put out there for everyone to judge. The principal (jerkface) even says this and does not want to follow the school's bullying policy about the the stalker at first due to Jack's reputation. Not cool.
Jack finally tells his mom about the stalker, and if he hadn't, this whole review would have been about how Jack should have told his mom so she could help him (and how much I hope that my kids would tell me in a similar situation).
E. All sex no plot. Definitely not the case. I am pleased that I could not figure out the stalker until the book revealed it; although in hindsight, it was kind of obvious. I wish we as readers had been able to see more of the fallout of the situation.
I've typed the word sex so many times in this post that this song is going through my head now. So, L.C. Rosen: Let's talk about sequels, baby!
--What happens after the stalker is revealed? What's the reaction at school?
--What happens with Ben and Other Ben?
--I want a book from Jeremy Diaz's point-of-view.
--Or Jenna's point-of-view. Maybe her news letter can cause a big controversy.
--Finally: what is Jack's advice about bisexuality? Or trans/gender nonbinary?
This book is too new to be nominated, but check the Rainbow Books blog regularly.
My final takeaway (in 75 words or fewer): I love it! Read it! I want another book written in this world. See sequel ideas above.
To the haters, teachers, parents, and anyone else who works with those crazy teenagers: do not be afraid of sex education. Do not be afraid of awkward conversations. Knowledge is power.
Memorable quotes/passages from the book:
- "Just 'cause I like sex and have a decent amount of it doesn't mean everyone else should. Everyone gets to use their naughty parts however and as often as they like" (hardback edition, pg. 17).
- "'Ah, sports-ball,' I say sagely, 'With the sexy uniforms'" (pg. 89).
- "Straight girls can be just as bad about gay men as straight me are about lesbians. And that's fin, get off on whatever--but only as long as everyone is consenting. Gay people aren't there to turn you on or entertain you about their sex lives" (pg. 159).'
- "I wish you so much love--because love has nothing to do with sex" (pg. 278).
Other reviews: Kirkus and Hollieblog.
Also, read "Authors in Conversation," about Jack of Hearts and Social Intercourse.
This book is NOT available in the Greensboro Public Library. To request that it be added to their collection, fill out this form.
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