And she turn’d�her bosom shaken with a sudden storm of sighs�
All the spirit deeply dawning in the dark of hazel eyes�
Saying, “I have hid my feelings, fearing they should do me wrong”;
Saying, “Dost thou love me, cousin?” weeping, “I have loved thee long.”
I was walking to the 4th grade classroom when the 7th grade girls stopped me with a question about the dance posters they were painting.
“Mrs. Kendall, is Sadie Hawkins dance theme? Don’t you think our dance should be a Sadie Hawkins dance?”
“Hmmm.” I quickly caught the eye of the principal and waived him over.
“Sadie Hawkins isn’t really a theme,” he said.
“It’s a type of school dance,” I said.
“Okay, so can we have a Sadie Hawkins dance?”
I smiled, blissful in my complete lack of decision making authority and looked to our principal.
“Well,” he said. “I’m assuming you want it to be a Sadie Hawkins dance because otherwise the boys won’t ask any of the girls to the dance?” There was a murmur of assent among the girls. “In that case, you’re probably right,” he continued. “The boys aren’t really thinking about dates and dances the way the girls are, but a Sadie Hawkins dance might intimidate a few of them. Besides, you’re all strong, modern young ladies, right? You don’t need the title ‘Sadie Hawkins’ to give you permission to ask a boy to a dance! So how about this–let’s call it the 7th and 8th grade dance and if you want to ask a boy to the dance, ask him. Just, you know, be gentle with them and remember that having fun as a community is what’s important.”
I thought his response was brilliant, though I inwardly winced thinking about what some of those utterly clueless boys had coming. The girls were less impressed, but took it in stride. Later that week, I heard a few girls had asked a few boys and, for the most part, it was a comedy of manners where she asked him and he said, “Uh” and she said “Never mind, I’ll ask him,” and he said, “Uh,” and she said, “UGH!”
The principal told me this happens every spring in the 7th grade. The girls all of a sudden think BOYS! while the boys are still thinking RECESS! I’ve even seen it in the library. Every girl in middle school wants to read a romance, and they’re looking to me to bring them into the library. We have all the classics like Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Anne of Green Gables, and the like, but they are not interested. I’m more than willing to bring in contemporary romances, but I have to find books that will work in a Catholic K-8 library. The girls are reading books from home I could never bring in without a fight from a few parents and the diocese. They’re also using apps like Wattpad to read fan fiction and self published books. I have mixed feelings about Wattpad. There’s great literature on Wattpad, but there’s also 300 metric tons of One Direction fan fiction. Reading is reading, I know, but…
As far as age appropriate romances go, I have a few picks for the library. Please recommend more if you know of an author or book that won’t get me kicked out the school gates!
Jennifer E. Smith books work. I’ve read The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and This is What Happy Looks Like. I feel fine putting both in the library. I hear her other books are similar in maturity level, so those will probably make it to the coveted “romance” shelf, too.
11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass (as well as the other books in the series) looks good. I’m going to use the money given to me by a very dedicated parent to buy the series.
Kissing Shakespeare is a book I’m not sure about. I read it, and as far as sexual content goes, it’s completely tame. The problem is that the main character, Miranda, travels back in time with a 16th century boy to Shakespeare’s time to save him from himself. She drinks mead/wine the entire time she is there, and it’s explained to her (and the reader) that it’s necessary because the water during that time wasn’t safe to drink. This is true, and I’m all for historical accuracy, but I can see the underage drinking being a problem with some parents and diocese.
Big is Beautiful is a fantastic book by my friend Kelly Martin. I’ve also read her book, Crossing The Deep. It’s not too much of a romance, but it was good. I’m going to work my way through the rest of her books and see how it goes, though I’m positive they’ll be fine.
Last, and possibly least, is The Selection series. This series is really popular, and it’s the one that flipped the switch on my formally reluctant reader niece, but ugh, it’s the bachelor with tweens and a prince. Blurgh.
Contemporary romances, clean but hip. Hit me with your best shot?
The images in this post are from Brooklyn Gang by the amazing Bruce Davidson.
Not contemporary, sorry, but for clean and Christian historical romances, few can beat Janette Oke.
My favorite middle grade romance (loved it then, still love re-reading now) is Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. It’s fantasy and not a straight romance, but the kiss scene near the end would always set my heart a flutter when I was younger. The book’s won an award, too. (PS: The movie was rubbish though. RUBBISH I tell you! You can’t even compare it to the book since it’s a totally different plot.)
Ah, perfect, thank you. I will check her out. We have almost everything by Gail Carson Levine, and those go quickly. We don’t have Ella Enchanted. I’ll have to check if she’s done anything else, too. Thanks for reminding me!
I’m confused. They don’t call them Sadie Hawkins dances anymore?
They do, but this is just a regular school dance they wanted to make into a Sadie Hawkins. Also, they’re in 7th grade and SH dances are usually in high school.
Judy Blume books are classics.
We have them, but they are “too baby.” We don’t have “Forever,” obviously.
What about The Princess Diaries? I don’t think my daughters ever read the books, but the movie was a huge favorite in our house (and still my favorite Anne Hathaway role).
Hmmm. I’ll see if we have the books in the library (I doubt it) but that’s a good idea.
I have no input on middle school romances but OMG the photos! I love them! Thank you for sharing the site link. I’m always game for good throwback pics :D
Gail Carson Levine: The Two Princesses of Bamarre, Fairest, and The Wish (that last one is more modern).
Margaret Peterson Haddix: Just Ella (another retelling of Cinderella) and Palace of Mirrors.
Robin McKinley: Beauty (retelling of Beauty and the Beast) and Spindle’s End (retelling of Sleeping Beauty).
There’s a series of retold fairy tales called Once Upon a Time, which includes Midnight Pearls by Debbie Vigui�, Snow by Tracy Lynn, The Storyteller’s Daughter: A Retelling of “The Arabian Nights” by Cameron Dokey, Scarlet Moon also by Debbie Vigui�, and many more.
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale is a pretty tame romance – it starts out very Disneyesque and then turns into a “girl power” story in the end. It might be too babyish for 7th grade…
Aww, I thought you were going to say the first pic was of your parents way back when. As for recommendations, not much help in that area, sorry!
I got nothin’ for book recommendations, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE these photos! (I will make notes on the books for future reference since I have a little person of the female variety that will probably want to read this genre when she goes boy crazy in 7th grade. I’m in denial about all that though.. la la la la la)
this is prolly way too baby but at that age i loved the Madeleine L’Engle Austin series — centering on teen Vicki Austin, and touching on her various crushes. Really beautiful books, I still love them! I think if I were the same me, in today’s times, I would be reading every modern retelling of fairy tale stories. I’m actually meaning to get in on many of those for my reading right now….:)
I second this one–I also loved those books. Haven’t read them since then, though, so have no idea if they would be too dated. Or even if they’re in print.
Thirded! I was just trying to remember the name of the series. They’re slightly more adult than the Wrinkle In Time series and so, so romantic.
Maybe some Cynthia Voight? I thought Dicey’s Song and A Solitary Blue and the whole rest of the Tillerman series were pretty romantic but they’re still seriously tame.
I guess these might both be too tame. I was slamming back Sweet Valley High books at that age, which at this point are probably dated AND inappropriate.
The Selection series is so much more than Survivor meets the Bachelor. These girls feel very real for the most part… I’ve really enjoyed them so far. I second the Gail Carson Levine, though if Judy Blume is too tame, those might be too.
The fairy tale retellings by Alex Flinn are pretty good. I’ve read Beastly and Cloaked and recall both being fairly tame. I’m guessing, but can’t say for certain, the others are the same.
The Wings series by April Lynne Pike is good, and I think the Faerie Trilogy by Lesley Livingston was also ok, same with the Iron series by Julie Kawaga.
The Goddess Test series is also pretty tame. Nothing happens until the main characters get married, and then they’re separated, so it stays pretty angsty.
What about the series that starts with Girl of Fire and Thorns?
Try Louise Rennison, UK based I think, with titles like ‘and then he ate my boy entrancers’, shame Judy Blume is too babyish ;)
Oh, this post…
It was the spring of my 7th grade many, many years ago that I started to date an 8th grader because, of course, 7th grade boys were so childish… I didn’t imagine this thing was so common. The ‘relationship’ created quite a bit of turbulence at that point, we were watched very closely by most our teachers, since I was a very good student while him, less so. We didn’t drop school, neither did we become pregnant in the teen years, nor any of the other bad things they feared for us. We were just two kids that fell in love very early and what we felt was very real. We’ve been together ever since, happily married for more than ten years now. We have a daughter though and it does feel different from the other side of the fence. I hope she doesn’t fall in love as early as I did but, if she does, I hope it will be a decent boy like her father was.
I don’t have a great memory for relative squeaky-cleanness so you’ll want to double-check these, but here are some semi-swoony younger YAs I’ve read lately:
Vance – The Heartbreak Messenger – probably too cutesy for real romance readers, but maybe younger tweens
Most Sarah Dessen would fall in this category. A few have casual drinking/mentions of sex, but not all. I don’t think her latest – The Moon and More – had anything objectionable
Seasons of Change series by Lisa Kline Williams – not a lot of romance but so clean and suprisingly readable.
Legacy of the Clockwork Key by Kristin Bailey – if you like a little steampunk adventure with your inoffensive romance
The Year of Luminous Loveby Lurlene McDaniels – your students are probably too young to revile at the name “Lurlene McDaniels,” right?
Lauren Morrill has two books out – Meant to Be and Being Sloane Jacobs. Meant to be was all silly, frilly romance so I’d guess Sloane Jacob might be the same
It is a hard age to juggle with subject matter. I have a 7th grade daughter who reads voraciously and is gifted academically. She wants to read YA novels at this point but there are so many that are inappropriate. I can’t pre-read every book she reads as I don’t have the time to plow through 10+ books a month. I try to pay attention to the ages/grade levels in reviews and on Amazon, but I’m sure she’s run across some stuff I’d rather she hadn’t. She did love the Levine and Hale books. She also liked the Thief series by Meghan Whalen Turner.
Like a previous commenter, I think the Meet the Austins series by L’Engle is lovely.
My preteen daughter recently read Jerry Spinelli’s StarGirl series. She loved it and I think it would definitely fit the category of “clean romance” (there is a kiss and some hand-holding), Here’s a review:
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/stargirl
In the Bible Belt South, I frequently use the Common Sense Media site to determine the precise content of books, especially for grades 5-8, which is where my roughly 30+ book challenges originate annually. If you hover over the “What Parents Need to Know” section or click on Full Details, it gives you very direct, complete information about the book’s content.
I’ll be following this comment thread for more ideas for my Caroline. :)
This was approximately eight million years ago (or the mid-90s) so I wouldn’t be surprised if it was out of date, but my Catholic middle schooler self loved What’s the Opposite of a Best Friend? which appears to be one cent on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Whats-Opposite-Friend-Apple-Paperback/dp/0590441450/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1395281503&sr=1-1&keywords=what%27s+the+opposite+of+a+best+friend.
The most dramatic thing that happens is holding hands, pretty sure, but I remember feeling like it was really realistic and therefore kind of middle school juicy.
I just want to speak up, briefly in defense of fanfiction: I have been reading fanfiction for over 13 years now (wow, just did that math) and have often found it to be much more compelling, true, and profound than many published works – especially the kind you’re calling for here, books for teens/tweens. I won’t argue that there is some real junk out there, but the same can definitely be said of many “real” books.
Fanfiction is primarily a labor of love, and it shows. The time and effort put into penning works of 75K+ words cannot be understated. I have always loved to read and devoured books at a pace that my family and library couldn’t always keep up with; fanfic filled the gap. It also made writing much more accessible (as people my age were writing things both great and terrible, and therefore I could either look to them or definitely do better). Don’t knock it; reading IS reading – I ended up with a degree in Publishing.
Alright as a 26 year who still is somewhat fascinated with young adult I’ll add the Mediator sersie by Meg Cabot. Good feminine hero, cute romance, some mystery, a ghost. Not classic literature by any means but good books. Fairy tail rewrites: Primcess of the Midnight Ball and Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George.
One great series is the “Matt Cruse” series by Kenneth Oppel. There are three books: Airborn, Skybreaker, and Starclimber. They’re a great mix of adventure and romance and probably would be loved by girls and boys alike. They don’t look especially girly either so boys would feel safe checking them out. When I read them they were the height of romance. Also, as far as I can recall, there wasn’t anything too risque, just kisses and a lot of swooning.