Flying Changes' sexual frankness is bound to be noticed by readers. Until recent times, unvarnished discussions of sex were taboo in literature for young adults. Hall may be capitalizing on the growing openness about sex in writings for young readers—she may even be widening the opening a bit—but her presentation of Denny's thoughts and feelings about sex help advance the novella's themes. Denny begins the novella with a naive, childish view of sex and what it means to grownups; her attitudes about giving up her virginity and making a man love her may well be shared by some teen-age readers of the book. Hall does such readers a service by contrasting Denny's unrealistic, romantic notions about sexual intercourse with the complex realities of the sex act. As Denny learns, Tyler Oneota can and probably does have sex with many different women who...