IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE AWKWARD

Media personality “Dr. Drew” teamed up with his adult daughter, an author and comedian, to write a relationship guide for teens.

The authors start with a bold claim: This book will teach readers how to appreciate and nurture TCB, or trust, compassion, and boundaries, in all their important relationships. The major topics covered include consent, identity, relationships (with friends, bullies and enemies, parents and other adults, and romantic partners), crushes, dating, sex, trauma, substance use, and coping with being a victim of sexual violence or recognizing that you were a perpetrator. They express a lot of faith in young people and offer support to LGBTQ+ people, including genderqueer and nonbinary individuals. They vary the material with quizzes, anecdotes from their own lives, hypothetical scenarios, and helpful summaries. However, the prose is wordy, and there are no illustrations to break up the text. The corny tone, outdated slang, and references to celebrities from far back in the last century may not speak to contemporary teens. Complex issues such as racial identity and coping with discrimination could have been further developed. The authors present TCB as a framework that provides insight in a broad range of situations, although its universal application at times feels forced. Teens looking for real talk about real challenges will find this book offers a lot of encouragement, but other titles cover the same territory more effectively.

A lukewarm addition to a crowded field.