He Gave Her Roses
Grove
1990
Submitter: This book is a “choose-your-own-ending” type of book about dating, but with a heavy religious theme, full of fear, shame, and judgement; and putting all the responsibility on the girl. In my opinion, it has no place in a public library to begin with, but it’s been sitting on my library’s YA shelves since 1990, even though it had not been checked out in over six years, and only a few times total. The cover art is horrendous, the girl looks like either a mannequin or corpse, and the story is even worse.
Stacey has her first serious boyfriend and is faced with deciding to have sex. In some of the paths, she ends up pregnant, and may have an abortion, give up the baby, or keep it. She may or may not marry the father, may or may not finish school. The ending that caught my eye was the one where she went to college and started dating a nice Christian boy, but then he dumps her when he finds out she’s not a virgin. But she doesn’t blame him, she just wonders if she will ever find anyone to love her. You know, now that she’s damaged goods and all. Just gross!
Holly: That’s a new one: Choose your own sex adventure.
So, what publisher is “Teenage Books”? I googled. Found this. I did not want to fill out the form to find what library owns it, but one would hope it is a large academic library that is aiming for subject-area completeness rather than a public library. https://openlibrary.org/works/OL159123W/A_time_to_belong?edition=timetobelong00grov
omg chad, please get murdered
Chad and Stacey? Who wrote this, some incel?
This was my first thought as well!
That’s what I thought! Maybe the incels read it?
Is it weird that I am dying to read this? All kidding aside, six years is a long time and honestly we need to start putting books out there which tell girls that their value isn’t in their hymen. Time to get taken off the shelf!
It’s available on archive.org.
Euuuuggghhh.
I wonder how many libraries got this terrible book foisted on them?
She’s well rid of Chad. Maybe now she can find a not-so-priggish boy (who can still be a Christian) who isn’t a hymen-worshiper. Get on the Pill, buy some condoms, and find nice boys who aren’t so judgy.
Breaking up over the phone? Now, that’s cold.
Men call women “damaged goods” probably because men feel they are damaged goods themselves but the evacuate those feelings onto women. Again misogyny is in heart of the beholder. The title is a warning: If he gives her roses, throw them on the ground crush them and run away.
I actually grew up with those books and loved them! I think they should be released for kids nowadays.
I would have skipped that particular one though.
Stacy didn’t blame herself…..managed to go on with her life….. The End. That’s called writing?
What a hack job! All those endings, all very hack.
“She left me roses by the stairs…” is what the title brought to mind. Agree with weeding from a current YA collection.
Surprises let me know she cares.
Ah yes, another one of the endearing “As a girl your sole value is as breeding stock and the best you can hope for in life is that whichever of your father’s friends he sells you to won’t beat you too hard.” books straight out of Gilead.
Is there a part where Stacy’s parents throw her out of the house and pretend they never had a daughter?
I’m a Christian guy and I went ahead and married a gal who was not a virgin. She’s amazing and I’d hate to have missed out because of being judgemental.
Note that the BF in scan #1 is making advances on Stacey after telling her they were only going to talk yet the book gives that a pass in order to crap on the one who DIDN’T initiate it.
Also, if you are that obsessed with a sexual experience your girlfriend had years before she met you and dump her because she’s not “pure”, you’re not mature enough for a relationship, CHAD.
I wonder if Chad got pushback for that(in one of the endings). And I’m sure that one of the 24 endings is the “right” one(ie, Stacey remains abstinent until marriage and lives happily ever after).