Pasadena

Much of the violence in the book has to do with sex: Maggie talks about preferring sex when she's roughed up; rape, pedophilia, and sexual violence are themes for more than one character. The plot centers on the mystery surrounding a teen's death; whether it was suicide or murder preoccupies the characters, who act as de facto detectives.

Sex is not described; rather, there are descriptions of the effects of sex on characters. Abortion is a topic. A teen is rumored to have choked himself in a kinky suicide. A character has contracted gonorrhea after having casual sex. Maggie strips in front of her friends and jumps into the pool.

Frequent strong language includes "f--king," "f--ck off," "douche," "bitch," "bastard," "ass," "jackass," "a--hole," "piss," "s--t," "bulls--t," "d--k," "hussy," "jerking off," "prick," "s--tbox," "screw," "damn," "hell."

Though the main character doesn't drink or do drugs, everybody else does. Underage drunkenness is normal, as is smoking pot. Maggie's found dead with a "bellyful of drugs," and she smoked "glamorously" and ordered filterless cigarettes off the internet. A parent's girlfriend asks Jude if she wants to get high, saying it might help her grief. A glass marijuana pipe is described. The adults who encourage drinking and drugs are viewed as approachable and not uptight. Prescription drugs mentioned.

Parents need to know that Pasadena is a noir mystery in which a teen girl tries to figure out if her best girlfriend's death in a pool was caused by foul play. The novel depicts a world where suicide, rough sex, seductive behavior among teens, pedophilia, and drug use by adults and teens are the norm. Kids are left by checked-out parents to navigate their days and nights, eating alone at coffee shops for breakfast, coming and going at all hours without anyone caring. Parents are described as overly cloying if they try to exhibit concern -- or, alternately, are deemed acceptable if they offer drugs and alcohol.