Doing It by Melvin Burgess

Doing It

Author: Melvin Burgess

Publisher: Henry Holt and Company

Date of Publication: 2003

Format: Hardcover

Page Count: 326 Pages

Cost: $15.95

ISBN: 0-8050-7565-8

Reading Level: Ages 16 and up

Plot Summary: This book is a candid depiction of teenage sexuality from the point of view of three male adolescents. Dino, Jonathan, and Ben are three friends who must navigate the ups and downs of teen sex over the course of a tumultuous school year. Dino is devastated when he catches his mother cheating on his father, yet when his gorgeous girlfriend refuses to have sex with him he rationalizes seeing another girl secretly without comprehending the fact that he’s committing the same sin as his mother. Jonathan begins a physical relationship with the overweight girl in his class, but struggles with his willingness to commit to her for fear of how his classmates will tease him. Ben is having an affair with his young theatre teacher, who is both manipulative and abusive of him. While he originally believes that he is living every boy’s dream, he quickly comes to realize that the fantasy is much more pleasant than the reality.

Evaluation: This book deals with teenage sexuality in frank and sometimes offensively graphic terms. Burgess’s British slang softens the usage of these terms a bit, but not much. However unlikeable the characters may be, the situations in which they find themselves are startlingly realistic. Burgess claims to have written this book because he didn’t think there were enough young adult novels out there that dealt with male sexuality in an honest manner. On that level, he succeeded spectacularly. The cover of this book is an illustration of a couple having sex at a party, which is a very accurate representation of the book’s content. This novel is bound to draw many challenges from concerned adults, if it even makes it to library shelves before being silently censored by conservative librarians.

Annotation: Being a teenaged male is tough enough, but when you throw sex into the equation anything can happen!

Links:

Filth, Which Ever Way You Look At It

A Librarian Reads Doing It

Related Reads:

Lost It by Kristen Tracy

When It Happens by Susane Colasanti

Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols

Sticky Fingers by Niki Burnham

Forever by Judy Blume

Forever

Author: Judy Blume

Publisher: Pocket Books

Date of Publication: 1975

Format: Softcover

Page Count: 220 Pages

Cost: $7.99

ISBN: 0-671-44181-7

Reading Level: Ages 14 and up

Plot Summary: When Katherine and Michael meet at a mutual friend’s New Year’s Eve party, sparks fly immediately. Although they don’t attend the same school, they find ways to visit one another on the weekends and whenever possible. As their relationship quickly progresses, so does their physical experimentation with one another. Eventually, feeling as though they will be in love forever, they decide to have sex. After one failed attempt they manage to do it, although the experience is less than satisfying for Katherine. However, that doesn’t hurt their relationship until they graduate high school and make different summer plans. Suddenly Katherine finds herself attracted to a different boy, and starts to wonder whether she’s too young to commit herself to forever.

Evaluation: This book was revolutionary when it was first written in 1975, for its depiction of a teenaged couple who make a conscious decision to have sex and endure no negative consequences or later regrets for this act. It is still the subject of a great deal of controversy today, but it contains a valuable lesson about the importance of making conscious, well-informed decisions about one’s own sexuality, including planning for the use of birth control. Although this book was written over thirty years ago, it will be as relevant to teens experimenting with their sexuality today as it was to their parents when they were growing up. This book is an honest depiction of first love when it seems endless, and first love when it inexplicably but inevitably slips away.

Annotation:

Katherine and Michael are sure that they have the perfect love, but will their relationship really last forever?

Links:

Judy Blume’s Lessons in Love

Teen Spirit

Related Reads:

Two Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt

Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr

A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl by Tanya Lee Stone

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles