Teenage Tales: Sneaking Looks In Sexy Books

Emily Danforth is the author of The Miseducation of Cameron Post.

I was at a garage sale with my grandmother when I found a paperback copy of Rita Mae Brown’s Rubyfruit Jungle.

I was, without much enthusiasm, rummaging through a pile of books. And then I turned over a small paperback. There, on the back, was a reviewer praising this “account of what it’s like growing up lesbian …” I flinched — such a private word to place in such prominence on a book cover.