Good Guys: More Than Just A Mirror

While YA lit doesn't need romance or a romantic subplot, I'm finding that YA readers are most often expecting one and looking for it. Sure, there are plenty of great YAs that don't have romance as a core feature, but for the sake of argument let's just assume that most do (and, I would argue, most do). There's also been lots of discussion about our female protagonists: what makes a "strong" female protagonist, is she weak or strong in her budding relationship, where does sex play into it vers...