IF in Children's Lit.

I am a big fan of children's literature. I actually prefer books written for kids and teens to books written for adults. Probably because I find it so difficult to find books written for adults that don't have to much sex or violence (or both) for my tastes. And I love to read. Well that's not fully accurate--I love to listen to audio books. But it amounts to the same thing--I devour books.

I just finished a particularly moving book called Lock & Key by Sarah Dessen. The main plot was about a teenager getting a chance for a better life, but interwoven throughout that was a sub-plot of infertility. There were none of the details you'd find in an infertile's blog, but there were hints. A woman lying on her bed in the morning taking her temperature. The same woman becoming distant when babies are mentioned. The classic line we all hate: "Just relax." The author even had another character point out how inane that comment is. Mood swings due to fertility drugs. The awkward scene with the extended family who have been waiting for a pregnancy announcement since the wedding and think any news means pregnancy.

The couple going through IF were what I would call supporting characters in the book, and the only way you got any sense of what they were experiencing was through the main characters observations and conversations with them. It was subtle enough that it would probably only stand out to another IF as an important part of the book. Of course, because it's fiction, the book ended with a BFP, and there was no hint at the possibility that a miscarriage might bring it all crashing down. Overall, though, I thought it was a very sensitive treatment of the issue, and I was pleased to find it in a contemporary book written for young adults. Even if most kids who read it don't pay much attention to the IF subplot, maybe it will plant the seed that this can happen . . . one can dream . . .