"Anatomy by Braille": An Annotated Bibliography of Canadian Young Adult Literature about Emerging Sexuality

Abstract

Résumé: Même si, dans le domaine de la littérature de jeunesse, l'on ne peut signaler aucune poursuite judiciaire invoquant la nouvelle loi sur la pornographic enfantine (section 163 du Code criminel canadien), il n'en reste pas moins vrai que celle-ci pourrait mettre en cause le libre accès à plusieurs romans pour adolescents. Dans cette optique, l'auteur examine un échantillonnage d'oeuvres récentes et déjà célèbres qui traitent de la sexualité des adolescents; elle conclut que les scènes dites explicites sont essentielles à la structure, au sens et à la compréhension de chacun des romans répertoriés. Summary: No Canadian literature for young adults seems to have been recently challenged under Canada's obscenity law (Section 163 of the Canadian Criminal Code). As teenagers are interested in their developing human sexuality, many of the novels directed to them do contain sexually explicit material. The intersection of young adult reading interests, the values of some adults connected with teens and the emphasis on community standards in Section 163, gives rise to a tension that could result in potential challenges to materials. A sample of award winning and otherwise notable Canadian young adult novels which contain some sexually implicit content is presented. Without exception the inclusion of this material was found to be an important part of each work that helped to further the theme.