In which Madeleine L’Engle talks about sex, and I’m uncomfortable with the example she uses

This might be Madeleine L’Engle’s most controversial book. It was published in 1984, a time when books for children and young adults didn’t always deal super frankly with issues of sexuality, coming-of-age, and sex. While Judy Blume’s Forever had been published, it was the exception, not the norm. And L’Engle’s frank focus on female sexuality is startling in its clarity and honesty. If you want to be spoiled, I get spoilery in my full review. I go off on a seriously yucky man and a seriously sucky man, too. SO MUCH FUN TO BE HAD. Seriously, why do female protagonists always get the dumbest love interests?