Where the Crawdads Sing tells the story of a dysfunctional family and the abandonment of the youngest child, Kya, who lives for many years, alone, in a shack on the marsh. She is befriended by a local teenager, Tate, with whom she has a sexual encounter, while she is still only 15 yrs old. Tate is described as being "18 or 19" at the time. He undresses Kya and touches her breasts and between her legs etc. and even though he stops short of intercourse (because he recognises she is a minor), the scene is very explicit.
There is a sub-story of the marsh itself and the wildlife (which is beautifully described) and kya's and Tate's shared interest in this, but most of the book is taken up with the romance and sexual tension and sex scenes between Kya and Tate and Kya and Chase, another young man she gets involved with after Tate leaves her. Chapters 18, 23 and 26 all contain very explicit accounts of sexual foreplay (with nudity) between Kya and these men and in chapter 27, sexual intercourse takes place between Kya and Chase (Kya is a young adult at this point) and then a rape attempt is described in chapter 29.
verdict of irishparents: This book reads like a well-written Mills and Boon sexual romance story. We do not think it is suitable to be read aloud or studied in a classroom of students who are mostly under the age of 18. There is not enough depth or many themes which could be explored other than the sexual tensions and betrayals etc. We do not promote books which encourage minors engaging in sex with adults.
Well said irishparents....well-crafted pornography, disguised as art, still has no place in the classroom!
Jonathan D, Cork
I read this book in my book club and thought it was a nice read etc but no way would I feel okay about handing it to my 16 yr old son or daughter......
Joy S. Co. Waterford
I would feel uncomfortable knowing my daughter was reading this as a book in school. It is more an adult book with all the sex etc.
Marian B Co. Leitrim