Rainbow Party

I thought this was a wonderful book. It dealt well with the issue showing that besides the emotional and social issues surrounding rainbow parties, that there are physical consequenses from oral sex. But it doesnt go out and say dont do it, its bad, your bad if you do it. It doesnt tell the reader what to think. I believe it allows the reader to be informed and make their own descisions. And "Rainbow Party" was a good novel to read. It serves as a good read and a better way to teach sex education that schools dont go into.

Okay I admit I have a wrong, perverse obsession with this book. I am a 25 year old hetero female, not some old perv, but this book is so dramatically wrong, bad, and over the top that it is amazing! Spoilers here: Hunter the class stud, who has tons of experience with girls, maybe even college girls, gets bjs from Perry and he's not gay!?!? Awesome! And these kids are only sophomores! I wonder what the seniors are like? I was a virgin throughout high school and college (oral and intercourse) and it wasn't a religious choice or a self-righteous or holding out for the right guy choice. It just happened that way. I was never persecuted or put on a pedestal by anyone. The only person who cared about it was me. I would love to go to a ranibow party now. I do have to say that I think you should only be able to read this at age 18 or older not because it is X-rated but because by then you have some distance. A 12 year old reading this may go out to Victoria's Secret to grab a thong and then go to CVS to swipe a Wet 'N' Wild lipstick. Not a good idea. Those don't have any staying power.

For the record, I asked a young guy at work if he knew what a rainbow party was. Just out of high school. Yes, he did. Did he know there was a book called that? No. You know, I see news articles talking about the epidemic level of venereal diseases among teenagers and news articles about how teenagers don't actually consider "oral" sex at all. Next a book actually comes out to talk about it. Then the moral outrage starts. Isn't that kind of backwards? The behavior exists. Spending energy denying it doesn't solve anything. For what it's worth, it is a well-written book with a good message about a subject people would rather not know about. Personal attacks on the author's character are only an indication of his critics' ignorance and not a big surprise. I would think people would care more about whether or not their children are actually engaging in high-risk activity that could lead to illness and possible death rather than getting in a righteous huff because someone would dare suggest that their kids are less than angelic. Apparently I'm wrong.

Ruditis has tackled a subject that so far has been "taboo" and off-limits. That alone should get him praise. More importantly I know now that my wife and I need to sit down with our preteen daughter and discuss what is REALLY happening in the 6th-8th grade. We not only need to talk about her education but we also need to and are responsible for educting her in sexual education. If we don't then someone else will, and that is not acceptable to us. I would recommend, no REQUIRE, this book as MUST READING for all parents of preteen [8-14] year old girls. You need to know that this is happening in your town and quite possibly with your daughter. A shocking subject but one that needs to be brought into the open.

Okay, parents, read a teens review...I hate to break it to you, but this stuff happens. I've been to 3 different high schools, one of the top boarding schools in the nation, a top california all girl's school, and a public school, and let me tell you--it's everywhere! I am sorry that its harsh, and yes its gross, but your kids are exposed to this and that isn't going to change. rather than trying to keep this book away from your kids and pretend this isn't happening, you should read it with your kids and TALK ABOUT IT! i read this book with my mom, and it was one of the best discussions we ever had. we talked about the motivations behind the different characters, and we had an honest discussion about what I would truly do if i was in that situation, and how to deal with these kinds of things, like peer-pressure and friends who are prematurely and overly sexual. i'm so glad i have a mom who is willing to talk to me about real stuff and not just pretend its not happening. because guess what? i'm 16 and haven't done more than kiss, not that i haven't had an incredible amount of chances, but because i know better because i could talk honestly with a parent who wasn't totally in denial and who was open to discussing hard things, like the stuff in this book. so honestly, parents, WAKE UP and realize this book is your frickin best friend if you don't want your daughters and sons to be EXACTLY like the characters in this book. cos whether you like it or not, it's happening. so get over it and TALK TO YOUR TEENS about this book and what goes on, with the sex and the peer pressure--you'd be surprised what they're dealing with that you don't even know about. oh and one more detail that it appears you all missed--the clear moral at the end was not one promoting oral sex and promisquity--what, like 39 students got STD's? Yeah, that's a promotion. Come on, if you actually read the book, you'd realize that at the end the happiest, healthiest couples were not having sex, and didn't end up going to the rainbow party. they didn't submit to peer pressure and made wise decisions that they were comfortable with, even though it was really hard. THAT IS EXACTLY THE MESSAGE YOU WANT FOR YOUR TEEN! realize that its not honest books like these that make teens act the way they do these days; sheltering them from books like this won't help becuase guess what? their friends are doing this--its happening at their schools! just because they don't read about it doesn't mean it won't happen all around them, and hey, they just might participate! you will help your teen by talking openly and honestly about the kind of material in this book. censorship vs. honest talks and educated advice? hm, i wonder...