Going Underground

The latest issue-driven novel by Vaught (Exposed) is an effective takedown of the laws that criminalize underage consensual sex. Del, a teenager who experimented with sexting when he was 14, has lived as a registered sex offender for the last three years, working a (literal) graveyard shift, laying low, and trying to find a college that will accept him. When he meets and starts to fall for Livia, his past comes back to haunt him, even as he works with his therapist to overturn the laws that made him a felon. His burgeoning relationship with Livia is complicated by both Del’s actions and her own past, as well as their respective families and a girl named Cherie, who is obsessed with Del. Vaught creates her characters and situations to help her message, but gives them more than enough life to carry the story, rather than feeling like puppets (the addition of a cursing and flatulent parrot named Fred helps). Del’s story—alternating between flashbacks and the present day—is tragic, frustrating, and believable, and teens should have no problem empathizing. Ages 14–up. (Sept.)