Not So Pure and Simple

When Del wants to get close to Kiera, he joins the Purity Pledge group that she attends at their local church. The group was formed after multiple teen pregnancies in the community and teens commit to being sexually pure and not attending sex education classes at school. Del plays double agent and takes questions about sex from the Pledgers to his sex ed teacher and passes on the answers. Through his experience, Del learns about double standards and how toxic boys’ actions towards girls can be. This engaging novel is suitable as an independent or literature circle novel for grades 11 and 12, and can foster discussion of religion, teen sexuality, toxic masculinity, misogyny, and social media.