An Arrow to the Moon

All the characters are ethnically Chinese and come from Taiwan, but it soon becomes clear that some of them see Taiwan as a nation and themselves as Taiwanese, while others insist that Taiwan's just a rogue province of China and everyone there is Chinese. Many Taiwanese words and phrases come up in the story, usually without translations. Characters discuss the racial prejudice they experience as Asians, such as being told to "go back to China" when they were born in San Francisco.

A gangster character is seen terrifying a captive with a knife and threatening him with torture; he later kidnaps teen characters and threaten to kill them. Archery, in mythology and in modern times, is important to the plot. In the past, a young man is forced into gangster life in payment for his father's debt, and now can't wait to seize a teen whose dad stole from him. There are a lot of perils in the story, some of mysterious origin, like the growing networks of cracks in the earth's surface, one of which costs a character his life. In mythology, an archer shoots nine suns out of the sky when they threaten to burn the earth; in the '90s, a teen archer's skilled shot saves a child's life. From the tale of moon goddess Chang'E and archer Hou Yi to the underlying family hatreds evoking Romeo and Juliet, there's a strong sense of characters being swept along by forces beyond their control to unhappy fates.

A teen couple meets during a party game of Seven Minutes in Heaven, though nothing other than emotional connection -- and possibly magic -- happens in those seven minutes. Strong attraction and hot, prolonged kissing (real and imagined) between two teen characters happen later. A couple of intense sex scenes between teens -- with condoms stolen from the girl's mom. A teen character unintentionally walks in on her naked mom having oral sex with a naked guy who's not her dad -- the beginning of a long unraveling of everything she thinks is true in her life. Seen through characters' eyes, the scenes are not graphically described but there's enough detail to leave no doubt what's going on. Menstrual cramps cause a lot of misery.

Multiple "s--t," "f--k," "ass," "pissed."

Smell of tobacco and possibly pot smoke in the air at a teen party, sticking to the clothes of those who sneak off to attend.

Parents need to know that Emily X.R. Pan's An Arrow to the Moon takes its title from the tale of Chang'E, moon goddess of Chinese myth; her lover, the skilled archer Hou Yi; and the forces that separate them for all eternity. In the late 20th century, myth and magic overlap and intertwine with the love story of two Taiwanese American teens from families who hate each other, for reasons involving a mysterious object, an ill-advised theft from a tong, cutthroat competition for academic jobs, and Chinese politics. The veil between the cosmic and '90s college-town life parts in unexpected ways as Luna and Hunter try to find their way and save their love in an out-of-control world that makes little sense. Along the way there's some intense kissing, hot teen sex, and a teen walking in on her mom having oral sex with a strange man -- not graphic, but there's no doubt what's happening. Occasional strong language ("s--t," "f--k," "ass," "piss"). Also some discussion of Taiwanese national identity.