Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

Published: September 5, 2011 by Poppy
Received: gifted to me via BEA 2011

SHUT OUT is a story about Lissa, a senior in high school, who decides to put an end to a decade old rivalry between her school's football and soccer teams after her quarterback boyfriend ditches her a few too many times on behalf of hazing the other team. Her plan is to start a sex strike - gathering the girlfriends of all the players of both teams and agreeing that none of them will hookup with their boyfriends until the rivalry is over.

What follows is an all out battle of the sexes as the girls begin to explore issues of teen sexuality and the boys attempt to seduce the girls into breaking their oath. Lissa is determined to win, but she never expects the sexual tension that rises between she and Cash Sterling, a member of the soccer team and leader of the boys' side. {taken from Kody Keplinger's blog}

Before I begin this review, I want to say a HUGE thank you to my friends who attended BEA in NYC a few weeks ago & picked up this little gem for me!  I was asked which book I wanted to get my hands on & it was THIS one that came to mind first.  For those that know me, I am a huge Kody Keplinger fan.  I read her debut novel The Duff last year and LOVED it.  I loved it so much I ranked it as my favorite read of 2010.  So when I had the opportunity to get my hands on her next novel, I literally jumped out of my skin at the chance!

I have a lot of respect for Kody Keplinger as a novelist because she isn't afraid to approach taboo topics in YA lit.  The controversy of sex is always brought up.  Should it be mentioned in a book made for teens?  Are we exposing them to too much too soon?  My thoughts on this matter: No!  Whether we want to shelter our children or not, the fact that sex exists is there.  We can write about rainbows & butterflies all day long.  But the truth is, when someone has the stage to speak to a mass audience of young teens - why not take that power for the good?  Kody Keplinger does not mask sex as this fairy tale experience.  She keeps it real & tasteful, in my opinion.  I think that is one reason why I loved The Duff so much.  I identified so much with Bianca when it came to her sexual relationship with Wesley.  I was once that girl, shutting out the world and using my body as a release to deal with the pressures of every day life.  Is that the right thing to do?  Absolutely not.  Just like Bianca, I learned to find other outlets and grew from my experiences.

Shut Out is the story about Lissa and accepting her own identity when it comes to teenage sex.  The stereotype says young guys get praise for sleeping around, yet if a girl is promiscuous she is considered a slut.  How one sided that scenario is.  When the high school football team & soccer team are literally at each others throats with this age old rivalry, Lissa takes matter in to her own hands to stop this nonsense once and for all.  She gathers the help from both the football & soccer players girlfriends and they all agree to go on a "sex strike" until the boys agree to stop fighting with one another.  As the strike continues, the girls realize they all share similar fears & insecurities when it comes to sex.  Through weekly sleep overs the girls grow closer in being able to openly talk about these issues.  But as they grow closer, the boys starts to grow restless and come up with their own agendas.  The plan isn't exactly working.

Lissa's boyfriend Randy, the quarterback of the football team, has the biggest issue with this strike.  He tries to pressure Lissa in to sleeping with him, telling her things like if she really loved him she'd do it.  I felt that his character was a bit extreme at times.  I could be wrong though, there quite possibly may be boys out there who act this way.  Randy disgusted me though.  I got a bit frustrated with Lissa too because she didn't always stand up to Randy.  I learned later it was due to her own insecurities, the same ones so many young teenage girls face on a day to day basis.  As the chaos and tensions were building due to the strike, Lissa found herself being pulled closer to Cash Sterling, a boy from the opposing side: the soccer players.  I really enjoyed the relationship that was growing between the two of these characters.  He seemed to notice Lissa the most, when most people tended to only see her as Randy's girlfriend.  He saw Lissa before she even saw herself, as a strong confident young woman.

The purpose for the strike started out as a means to an end with the boys feud, but escalated in to a personal journey for Lissa.  The message behind Kody Keplinger's Shut Out is that whether you're a teen who is sexually active, or a teen who chooses to wait to have sex - be who you are & be ok with that.  Don't listen to the pressures of what you should or shouldn't be doing.  Every one is different, and ultimately you are the one responsible for your own life.  I encourage those to read this book that enjoy gray areas when it comes to teenage experiences.  Once again, I applaud Kody Keplinger for tackling a not so popular topic, but giving it a voice of it's own.