SEX: A BOOK FOR TEENS

This guide to teen sexuality by the host of the hilarious comedy podcast The Midwest Teen Sex Show is chatty and expansively informative. Maintaining an offhand, non-judgmental tone throughout, it concisely covers topics from sexual identity to STIs and the basics of reproduction (and avoiding it), as well as some less commonly explored territory in books on sex for teens, such as fetishes and kink. Though Hasler’s deadpan style plays better on the show than on the page, there are plentiful flashes of humor, and the simple cartoon-style graphics aid in both a comedic and an informational sense. While a lot of the content is not new, the highlight is the Q&A at the end of each chapter, which includes such timely gems as a warning about the possible legal and emotional repercussions of digitally sending or even printing out naked pictures to give to others. Readers will likely giggle over the cover graphic of a bull mounting a cow, but this is a solid, frank resource for teens. (resource list, index) (Nonfiction. 12 & up)