‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’ Fans Oh So Mistakenly Find Themselves At YA Reading

Any mother who devours Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James most likely doesn’t want their tween reading the BDSM-filled plot. Although the erotic series has proved to be a favorite with mothers, it can probably be universally acknowledged that the premise is far from PG-13. Yet, as the author travels on book tour, enthusiastic adult fans are occasionally finding themselves at the wrong venue, hearing a YA author talk about her book Between Shades of Gray instead.

Entertainment Weekly reports that Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys and Fifty Shades of Grey have absolutely nothing to do with each other. Sepetys’ book, considerably more serious than erotica, explores genocide in Baltic countries under Stalin’s regime. The YA book reportedly describes “a young Lithuanian girl’s unspeakable struggles.” Yet given the similar title, a very adult readership keeps stumbling into her readings:

“The subject has come up at every high school and every bookstore I’ve been to,” Sepetys says with a laugh. However, she counts the title confusion as a positive. Many of the E L James fans who wander into her readings — most of them men, she notes — stick around and end up learning something.

Adults wandering in to hear about a YA book on genocide is one thing, but I doubt anyone would be laughing if devoted young fans started turning up Fifty Shades of Grey events. Okay, maybe some people — but they definitely wouldn’t be parents.

(photo: someecards.com)