I have lots of conversations with teachers and teachers-in-training about what adolescents can, do, and should read. I don’t mind talking about what they can read or what they do read, but I get nervous when people start declaring what they should read, especially on their own time outside the curriculum.

Recently, in a class discussion, the topic of reading diet came up, and someone commented that she wanted students to read and didn’t really care what they read. A fairly heated discussion ensued. The general consensus seemed to be that the group would be okay if students read pretty much anything but romance.

I get it — there are awful and formulaic books out there that people think of when they think about romance, but I can’t help but think of the wonderful and true romantic stories that the YA world offers today’s teens. I think of Tyrell navigating new and old romantic relationships in Bronxwood or Sarah Dessen’s stories of ordinary life and new relationships. I think of Benjamin and Dante and their subtle discovery of the universe, Eleanor and Park and their journey toward each other a millimeter at a time, or of course, Augustus and Hazel and their "little infinity."

I always wonder why these subjects don’t seem to get the same reaction and respect from my own students as other stories, like brutal murder games for dystopian teens (and even Katniss gets her own love triangle). I mean, don’t get me wrong — I love those dystopias and other books that feature violence as a part of their storytelling. They raise important issues about culture and society and all that.

But falling in love (or like or attraction or even dislike) is an important part of adolescence, and I’d hate to send students messages that these topics aren’t worthy of exploration in the same way that other emotions and experiences are. So I suppose I am open to romance, and I don’t have a negative reaction when the adolescents I work with read these books. I don’t even think, "at least they are reading something," like I’ve heard so many others say. I think they are reading about a part of life and trying to figure it out, and I think that is important in its own way.

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Editor's note: For more great YA romances, read "What Makes a Good YA Love Story" by Katrina Hedeen and Rachel Smith, from the May/June 2013 Horn Book Magazine.