What's Going on Down There?

December 1, 1998
Gr 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, OR

November 1, 1998
Gr. 6^-9. Aided by two teenagers, Gravelle does for boys what she and her daughter did for girls in "The Period Book" (1996). As in the first book, the tone here is forthright without being sober or scary. Facts about puberty, sex, and sexually transmitted diseases, and also what happens to girls during puberty are presented clearly and completely, along with answers to an assortment of related questions. The authors also manage to slip in some counsel about wise decision making, though the emphasis is on information, not values. This is similar in scope to Paulette Bourgeois and Martin Wolfish's "Changes in You & Me: A Book about Puberty, Mostly in Boys" (1994), but it is much more thorough and contains a very detailed chapter on types of birth control, which Bourgeois and Wolfish barely mention. Teens looking for information about homosexuality will probably need to go elsewhere--to one of Thomas Ford's excellent books, perhaps--for a better discussion. Otherwise, this is a fine book, with lots of great cartoon artwork that adds fine comedy without compromising the importance of the subject. ((Reviewed November 1, 1998))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1998, American Library Association.)