Context: This is for my kid brother (I'm quite a bit older), who's going through that terrible time in everyone's life where hormones are happening! He's not a huge reader, as a lot of Gen Z kids unfortunately are, but I'm trying to get him into it more. I managed to get him to read Lord of the Flies, which is a good start. He's a quirky, smart kid but gets bored easily, and unfortunately he's not as patient with reading as I was when I was his age, so I'm not sure where to start with him. He's much more of a STEM kid than humanities, but reading science textbooks only gets you so far.
The big criteria here is that the book needs to have some sort of depiction of sexuality from a male perspective, something that will show him the value of healthy relationships, but also kinda smutty, if that makes sense. There is such high exposure to porn nowadays that my parents and I both think that something written would be a good way to get him to think about sexuality and bodies (and girls!) in a healthier way. They're fairly laizzes-faire in their parenting approach and it's not my place to challenge that, so the key here is to get the healthier stuff into his brain while I can. Trouble is, I'm not sure how many male-perspective books like that are out there! I accidentally read 50 shades when I was 10 or 11, so trying not to let him repeat that mistake…
Personally, I'm not a big fan of YA (growing up in the Hunger Games/Maze Runner era will do that), but I'm curious if anyone here can think of anything. Maybe he'll like it. The only one I thought of that I read at his age was Labor Day, but even that might be a bit emotionally advanced for him.
Maybe something like nerdy high school boy meets girl and they have to navigate a complex relationship sort of thing? I have a couple movies for him to watch- Stuck in Love, She's All That, etc., but can't think of any books.
by Bliker1002