The Dirt on Sex: A Dateable Book (Dirt, The)
Grade 7 Up–This book addressed to evangelical Christian teens is written in a flippant, smart-aleck, "too cool for school" voice that undercuts the importance of the information it imparts. Lookadoo explains why oral sex is, indeed, sex, and explores a number of common myths, e.g., condoms prevent pregnancy and diseases. Generalizations are frequent–e.g., a teen father will abandon the pregnant girl. Some of the data is documented, but the author frequently cites his own interviews with teens. He portrays homosexuality as a matter of personal choice. "Then there is the  'I was born gay' argument. Well, poop on that," he writes, before getting tangled up in an oversimplified discussion of the role of genetics in both gays and convicts. As the book progresses, Lookadoo includes an increasing number of biblical references and offers a chapter counseling teens who have been sexually active and now want to become abstinent to turn to God. The book is laid out in punchy, bold graphics that are visually exciting but not particularly original. Fictionalized scenarios and dialogue appear frequently, both in the text and in sidebars. Eleanor Ayer'sIt's Okay to Say No: Choosing Sexual Abstinence(Rosen, 2000) presents a strong case for abstinence and includes none of the religious references that make Lookadoo's book particularly problematic for public-school collections.–Joyce Adams Burner, Hillcrest Library, Prairie Village, KSCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.