We have now gone so far that while writing about a new children's book, I can't describe the plot without warning you first that it is entirely inappropriate for children!
The book is "Rainbow Party," by juvenile fiction author Paul Ruditis. The publisher is Simon Pulse, a division of Simon & Schuster. The cover of the book features the title spelled out in fun, Crayola-bright font.
The main characters in the book are high school sophomores -- supposedly typical 14- and 15-year-olds with names such as "Gin" and "Sandy." The book opens with these two girls shopping for lipstick at the mall in advance of a special party. The girls banter as they hunt for lipsticks in every color of the rainbow: "Okay, we've got red, orange, and purple," Gin said. "Now we just need yellow, green, and blue.""Don't forget indigo," Sandy said as she scanned the row of lipstick tubes.
"What are you talking about?"
"Indigo," Sandy repeated as if that explained everything. "You know. ROY G. BIV. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet."
Ok, what kind of party do you imagine they might be organizing? Perhaps a makeover party? With moms and daughters sharing their best beauty secrets and bonding in the process?Good guess but WRONG!
No parents are invited. A "rainbow party," is a gathering of boys and girls for the purpose of engaging in group oral sex. NO I'M NOT MAKING THIS UP. Each girl wears a different colored lipstick and leaves a mark on each boy. I won't go into any more detail but you can imagine where all this goes.
In the end, the kids in the book abandon plans for the event and news of an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases rocks their school. You must fight your way thorugh the entire book to find one shred of redeedming value.
The author and publisher of the book seem to have persuaded themselves that they are doing families a favor. Simon & Schuster won't comment, but Bethany Buck, Ruditis' editor, told USA Today the intention was to "scare" young readers, and Ruditis told Publisher's Weekly:"Part of me doesn't understand why people don't want to talk about [oral sex]," he said. "Kids are having sex and they are actively engaged in oral sex and think it's not really sex. I raised questions in my book and I hope that parents and children or teachers and students can open a topic of conversation through it. Rainbow parties are such an interesting topic. It's such a childlike way to look at such an adult subject -- with rainbow colors."
What Ruditis does not understand is an "adult subject" is for adults NOT CHILDREN. The teen market is now awash in sexually explicit books that would require brown-paper wrapping if sold at 7-11; their authors are being hailed as "edgy." Maybe Howard Stern should consider a career in children's books.
1 comment:
It's a kids book. It takes about 20 mins.
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