Parents should exercise caution if their teen or tween wants to read this very popular Irish book.
Do you vet the books that your tweens and teens are reading? Reading is so important for kids, and so good for them, but it is very important to keep an eye on what they read. While we probably have an active role in choosing the books that our younger children read, when they get to a certain age we may begin to leave them to their own devices.
I know that when I was a tween and teen, my parents were just happy that I was reading, and let me pick up anything I wanted from the Young Adult (YA) section, meaning I definitely read some inappropriate material.
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Because of this, I will definitely pay close attention to the books my daughter is reading when she’s a little older – I think Issadora Moon is safe for the moment.
Unsuitable Irish book series teens are reading
A book series that parents should really have on their radar is The Boys of Tommen, by Chloe Walsh, which revolves around the lives of rugby star Johnny Kavanagh and Shannon Lynch, their friends, problems and lives at Tommen College.
The series recently went viral on ‘BookTok’ and is beloved by adults and teenagers alike, and now that the series is getting turned into a TV show, it’s on even more people’s radar. But although the series revolves around the lives of teenagers, that doesn’t mean that it is aimed at this demographic.
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The books deal with themes and issues that are wholly unsuitable for readers under eighteen, including sexual content, violence and themes which readers may find ‘extremely upsetting’.
The warning is printed on the books, but even so, it is usually situated in the YA or Young Adult section of bookshops, so it is easy to see why parents would allow their children to read it.
In fact, Cork author Chloe Walsh previously revealed on social media that she intended the series to be read by mature audiences, yet it is still classed as YA.
Taking to Instagram, the author explained why this is: ‘Boys of Tommen is suitable for readers 18+, and it is still YA, lads. I’ve seen some questions lately about the content and why it’s YA.
‘Young Adult means the characters are in their teens or early twenties. I don’t make the rules. Please read any disclaimer or content warning in my book and others’, she said.
