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The LOSING IT Book Launch
Five of the Losing It authors took part in a discussion and question and answer session at the Losing It Book Launch. The event was attended by all types: authors, publishers, librarians, teachers, and most importantly, teenagers! The authors talked about their stories and how they viewed them in relation to that all-important issue: having sex for the first time.
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Third video: Bali Rai
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Bali Rai
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Second video: Anne Fine
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First video: Keith Gray introduces LOSING IT!
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Let’s talk about…
Hello! We’ve set up this blog as a discussion forum to accompany the publication of LOSING IT, a fantastic collection of stories from the very best writers of young adult fiction. If you’re a teenager, we want to hear your views! So tell us-
Will you, won’t you? Should you, shouldn’t you?
Have you?
You know what we’re talking about…
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Keith Gray
You’ve got to be 16, right? Before you’re allowed to do it, and lose it.
Well, here in the UK you do. But if you live in Turkey you have to wait another couple of years until you’re 18 for sex to be legal.
While in France you only have to be 15.
In Austria the age of consent is 14.
And in Japan you can even be as young as 13.
(This is only if you’re straight, by the way. Unfortunately there can be all sorts of other rules and regulations if you’re gay).
I can tell some of you are packing your bags already, wanting to book flights. But just hold up a minute – you’ve got to ask yourself why there’s such a wide discrepancy in the legal age of consent.
I suppose sex goes beyond facts and figures, the feelings involved can’t be explained by simple statistics. And in my eyes that’s exactly what our anthology is trying to do. Stories, fiction, can explore these feelings and motives and emotions. Losing It isn’t a ‘how-to guide’. It’s a collection of thoughts, sympathies, perceptions, stories about young people on the brink of something scary and grown-up. And crazy, dangerous, inexplicable, wrong, right, taboo, natural, wonderful, overwhelming.
There’s 8 original stories in Losing It from 8 unique points of view. Maybe one of these points of view is a bit similar to yours?
Good.
That’s the plan.
But I really hope you enjoy the other 7 as well.
Keith
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xEmx
This sounds cool. i guess i’ve always thought it’s like a decision which you make. No one else should decide. i had sex earlier than some of my friends. but i don’t regret it. it happened and well that was it i guess. tbh it wasn’t great and seemed like a lot of fuss but i was happy after for like an hour. For some of my friends it was a bigger deal, one of my friends named a date and planned it all and another lost it in a tent at reading festival… lol! some of my friends haven’t at all, and i guess no one still wants to still be a virgin when most ppl arent anymore…
will definitely read book though. xEmx
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Jenny
I’m not a teenager (I’m 23), but I thought I’d comment anyway and say how important I think this book is. I’m glad it’s been published, and that sex is no longer a subject to be feared – it could really help a teenager in their decision, or even in the aftermath of the event itself.
My favourite stories were by Patrick Ness, Bali Rai, and Sophie McKenzie – all very different, and all tell a story from an interesting point of view. It’s amazing how different cultures see sex as something to fear or be punished for. Reading something like that makes you grateful to live in a society that accepts it.
We need more books for teenagers like this. Well done Andersen Press!
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Bali Rai is discussing. 
xEmx, 
Keith Gray are discussing. 
When my good friend, Keith Gray, asked me to write a short story for the ‘Losing It’ collection, I immediately thought of ‘The White Towel, a story that I’d written many years earlier. Having read the brief for ‘Losing It’, I realised that my old story would fit perfectly. A simple tale about the concept of virginity, told in a British Asian context.
Inspired by an old Punjabi tradition, the story considers two attitudes towards losing ones virginity. The first, and most prevalent, is that of a British Asian girl, Preet, who learns of a dark family secret. The second is that of her white British best friend, Maisie, who cannot understand why ‘losing it’ is such a big deal. It is a harrowing story of love, betrayal and murder, with the concept of family honour hovering throughout.
I wanted to show how parents and their cultural/religious values and traditions often shape attitudes towards virginity. This is certainly the case in British Asian circles, where the concept of wedding-night virgins is still the norm, especially for young women. Despite both Preet and Maisie being British born, the demands on Preet regarding her sexuality are far greater. However, this is something of which wider British society is usually unaware. In fact, many people fail to accept that such pressures, which can lead to physical abuse and murder, exist at all.
Yet the reality is startling. Domestic abuse, forced marriage and so-called ‘honour killings’ do exist in certain ethnic communities across the UK. Most of these incidents affect young women and, by far, the biggest reason is attitudes towards sexual liaisons. Despite my story being set in rural India, there are direct parallels to the modern day. For many young British women, losing their virginity isn’t some rite of passage. Instead, it is a minefield of cultural and religious demands, concepts of family honour and misogynistic attitudes about the role of women.
I want my story to anger readers, to shock them and cause them to consider the issues. I want it to challenge comfortable generalisations about ‘losing it’ within the British context. In today’s culturally diverse society, there are many issues. The sexism and misogyny that young women face from certain religious/cultural backgrounds is one such problem. I hope my story can challenge this problem and, most of all, I hope it makes a damn good read.
– Bali Rai