Religious parents
This book features a religious family who sends their kids to camp and makes them memorize the Bible. That makes the plot of this story essentially ironic because that religious pressure seems to have backfired. Instead of trusting his parents, this perfectly healthy, normal boy encounters sexual attraction and realizes that there are complications there because of his sense of religious shame. In order to do what he feels is natural, he has to choose "religion" or "not religion," and he chooses his instincts. One could argue that he is on the true religious path because he admitted his true beliefs and accepted responsibility for his desire.
Church camp romance
The setting of his fiery sexual awakening is Craig's visit to a church camp where he meets a hot girl named Raina who becomes fast friends with him. The relationship is filled with obvious, accidental signs of attraction (neither are versed enough with sexuality to hide their attraction well; they basically flirt the entire time). The irony of church camp as this relationship's setting is that all the authorities of the camp would be offended and scandalized by their sexual relationship, especially when they consummate their attraction later in life.
Sex before marriage
The irony of sex before marriage in the context of this book is that it makes sex before marriage seem obvious and natural, but then when Raina decides (for ironic reasons!) to leave him behind, Craig realizes that there was some wisdom in the archaic sexual rules of the Bible. Namely, the Biblical morality would have forced the couple to get married before sex. That does not mean that their relationship would have survived a marriage, but rather, it is just an ironic part of what religion does to people. It complicates their automatic default to natural desire.
Playing the innocent part
Craig does not come off as a hero in this book. Instead of playing the part of the innocent, the person who does what he is told, Craig chooses to play the part of the sinner. He participates actively in an emotionally intimate friendship at a church camp where the object of their game is strictly forbidden. After realizing the ironic contrast between the Biblical instruction of the camp and the true desire of Craig's heart, he decides to take a bite of the forbidden fruit, and this book frames that journey as a journey of experience.
The ironic blanket
There is implicit irony in Craig's decision to save a blanket from his fling with Raina. The irony is that this frames his character as someone with an emotional attachment to a blankie which is somewhat juvenile. However, this irony is actually quite uncanny because the attachment to his first love will serve Craig as an artistic transport into the emotions of his childhood. The sexual intimacy with Raina is where his childhood innocence and his experienced adult identity converge.
