Teen Sex Teen Pregnancy and Parenting

Gr 10 Up—Teen Sex is limited in range, has less depth in the essays than Teen Pregnancy, and is often confusing. Concurrent data is conflicting and raises issues and leaves gaps in the text. Some essays tend to provide support to both sides of an argument, thereby reinforcing the underlying precept that these issues are difficult to pin down with hard-and-fast statistics. Many of the essays in Teen Pregnancy include commentary on how parents might be better able to impact teen pregnancies, in many instances emphasizing their potential to effect change-whether their views are liberal or conservative. In both books, the material is statistic dense, with specific sources particularly lacking in Teen Sex, but both volumes could benefit from comprehensive footnotes. This lack of specificity ultimately leads to readers wondering if the numbers are somehow brought around to enhance a given author's argument. Having said that, the differing viewpoints on sex education and its impact on teen pregnancy in the second book are well presented for opening further discussion. An excellent couple of essays straddle the divide between the "teen pregnancy is evil" and the "let's-throw-condoms-at-them" camps, and more to the point, include teen fathers in the discussion. Teen Pregnancy is a solid additional purchase. The content is graphic, including discussion/reference to oral, anal, and group sex.—Meredith Toumayan, The Governor's Academy, Byfield, MA