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Ready or Not? by Tina Radziszewicz is informative without being condescending to the young girls who are so new to sexuality. Self proclaimed as “a girl’s guide to making her own decisions about dating, love, and sex,” it tries very hard to live up to that expectation with compassion and humor.
The dynamics of puberty and passion can be mysterious and scary, but Radziszewicz plies them with non-judgmental advice along with encouragement for girls to think for themselves. She doesn’t tell them which path to take, nor what is right or wrong for them. She simply lays out the information, piles of it, and allows the young readers to find their own right and wrong. She also sheds light on the myths of teenage boys. After reading, a girl will be able to better understand these aliens. Pushy lies and behaviors are explained, as are the reasons behind their use.
She doesn’t tout the tired “abstain from sex” rule. She offers reasons for that idea, but she also arms girls with the information needed to make their own intelligent decisions about sex and sensuality. She explains in clear terms what it means to be a sexual being, including the risks and positives. The only truly repetitive idea through the book is not to abstain entirely, but to understand that only the girl herself knows when it is time to date or more.
There is no beating around the bush when it comes to touchy issues. She discusses everything from sexual anatomy to commonly used terms to menstrual cycles and STDs. There is no tiptoeing around sensitive or emotional issues, either. The whole story is explained, from the first tingles of a crush to the moments leading up to a sexual encounter, and after. A variety of words are used, as well. While she explains and uses the clinical words, she also uses and explains the commonly used words that kids will likely hear from friends and in movies. Confidence comes from knowledge, and with knowledge and confidence our girls can make good and healthy decisions for their own futures. Tina Radziszewicz seems to aim to give this to them.
The book is laid out sensibly, material broken into chapters to make it easy to find one issue or another quickly. Each chapter offers a breakdown of what is covered for the girl just skimming each portion to figure out what she is curious about, but the book also boasts a very in-depth table of contents and an index. The huge amount of wisdom and knowledge offered is organized to make it easy to soak in. However, the best part of this book, easily, is the nine solid pages of help and resources at the end. Included are phone numbers, many of them free 800 numbers, as well as Internet helps.
The only portion of the book that is less than satisfactory are the Q&A chapters. This is the only part in which Tina Radziszewicz does not seem to answer with compassion and open-minded concern; her answers come across as trite.
Overall, Ready or Not? is an excellent resource for young girls who really need to know more than they are likely to learn with friends, during lunch hours. Cute illustrations by Kathryn Lamb, and silly jokes here and there by the author, lighten up what could be a very heavy sort of a book.
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Carolynn Evans/2007 for curled
up with a good kid's book |
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For grown-up fiction, nonfiction and speculative fiction book reviews,
visit our sister site Curled Up With a Good Book (www.curledup.com)
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