Sex and other stuff: The A-Z of everything you need to know by

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Black dog books, 2010. ISBN 9781742031194
(Age 12+) Non fiction. Recommended. 200 pages packed with information about sex and stuff, presented in a dictionary format, will have huge appeal to the newly emergent teenager looking for knowledge, answers to questions and facts, facts, facts. This is an objective, factual and easy to read dictionary which will have broad appeal to all kids in secondary school, be they gay or straight, in a relationship of not, wanting to know the facts for r themselves so they have an opinion and information at their fingertips with which to refute some of the misinformation which abounds at that age.
Ranging from the expected inclusions such as STI's, AIDS, homosexuality, Contraception, Oral Sex, Anal Sex and so on, there are also things like, Infertility, Emergency Contraception, Consensual Sex and Pornography, as well as some I had heard of but didn't really know what they meant. I know now. Each of the amazing array of things covered is treated with a purposeful and reasonable approach, allowing the reader to take in the information without feeling that they have been preached at. Each of the facts given allows the reader to make up their own mind about the facts presented, and I am sure many recess and lunch times will be spent discussing the information made available in this book.
Annie Rose's background as a nurse who has worked in Family Planning and sex education in schools, gives her an insight into what kids need to know, and she has ably presented these facts in Sex and other stuff. The list of addresses and websites at the end of the book allow the reader to further explore the subject of the book, and find places where they can talk to someone who knows what to say and how to say it to an teenage audience.
Fran Knight

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