What's Going on Down There?: Answers to Questions Boys Find Hard to Ask
Grade 5-10-The author of The Period Book (Walker, 1996) teams up with two teenage consultants to provide a useful and readable guide to puberty for boys. Written in the voice of a trusted adult, this title deftly covers physical changes, sexual intercourse, peer pressure, and pregnancy and birth. Gravelle reassures readers that there are a lot of different ways to describe normal when discussing puberty, and that each person will experience changes on his own timetable. The book balances information about being a sexual person with that of being a responsible person. While providing detailed and accurate information on genital size, birth-control devices, and sexually transmitted diseases, there is also an emphasis on the psychological changes occurring at the same time. Homosexuality and bisexuality are covered in a frank and open manner. The chapter "Girls Are Changing Too" discusses changes readers can expect to see in their female friends and has detailed illustrations and information not typically presented in books for males. The text is complemented by comic-book style illustrations that serve to lighten the sometimes serious subject matter.Katie O'Dell Madison, Multnomah County Library, Portland, ORCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.