19 Love Songs

Some characters lash out verbally, but there's no physical violence.

Several of these stories portray teens experiencing strong feelings of romantic love and desire. The author's descriptions are more sensual and passionate than graphic, but he does tell us that clothes come off, and in one piece, friends hear another teen moaning during a sexual encounter with a girl wearing only a bra on top. There's also a particularly sexy story within the story, where a character taking a creative writing class writes about an imagined physical relationship between two male characters on the TV show L.A. Law.

Profanity isn't frequent in the book overall, but in a few stories teens use it frequently -- "s--t," "f--k," "ass" (and their variations), and "goddamn."

In one story, a character talks about drinking from the mini-bar in a hotel, but we never see him drink and the implication is that he resists the temptation. Teens sip beer at a party in another story.

Parents need to know that David Levithan's19 Love Songs incudes short stories and poems, most of which have appeared in previous anthologies or as part of Levithan's earlier books. Many of the pieces portray LGBTQ characters navigating strong feelings of attraction, love, and desire. Like many of Levithan's novels (Every Day, Two Boys Kissing) his collection sends teen readers a powerful message that they are not alone in their feelings and experiences. The characters' sexual and/or gender identities are important but not unique; love is love, in other words. In some stories, teens use profanity ("f--k," "s--t," "ass," and their variations), and some drink beer in one story. Sexual activity between teens and young adults (both same- and opposite-sex) is described sensuously and passionately -- teens disrobe, kiss, and touch in a sexual way, but nothing is described graphically. There's deep intimacy in this book, but it is more emotional than physical.