annieb123's Review of This Is So Awkward

by Cara Natterson, MD and Vanessa Kroll Bennett

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The ultimate guide for adults helping tweens and teens navigate the rollercoaster of puberty.

“An accessible, enjoyable, and detailed road map for addressing even the most delicate topics with confidence and compassion.”—Lisa Damour, PhD, author of Untangled, Under Pressure, and The Emotional Lives of Teenagers

Almost everything about puberty has changed since today’s adults went through it. It starts, on average, two years earlier and stretches through high school . . . and for some, beyond. Gens Z and Alpha are also contending with a whole host of thorny issues that parents didn’t experience in their own youth but nonetheless need to understand: everything from social media and easy-access pornography to gender identities and new or newly-potent drugs. Talking about any of this is like puberty itself: Awkward! But it’s also critical for the health, happiness, and safety of today’s kids.

Bewildered adults have begged for reliable and relatable information about the modern adolescent experience. This Is So Awkward answers their call. Written by a pediatrician and a puberty educator—together the hosts of a lively and popular podcast on puberty, and moms to six teens between them—this is the handbook everyone has been searching for, and includes:

• Pointed advice about how to talk to kids about almost anything: acne, body odor, growth spurts, eating disorders, mood swings, sexuality, and more.
• Science-based explanations for all of puberty’s physical, emotional, and social changes, including the many ways hormones affect kids both above and below the neck.
• What adults needs to know about today’s teen culture: their mental health drivers, the un-gendering of body image issues, the ways they think about sexual orientation, and more.
• Invaluable commentary straight from young adults just out the other side of adolescence that highlights what they wish the adults in their lives had known or done differently.

Eye-opening and reassuring, This Is So Awkward will help adults understand the turbulent pubescent decade and become confident guides for today’s kids.

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

This Is So Awkward is a well-written, accessible, plain-language book about navigating the changes which come with puberty, by Dr. Cara Natterson and Vanessa Kroll Bennett. Released 10th Oct 2023 by Penguin Random House on their Rodale imprint, it's 352 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout. Especially with information-dense books, the interactive format makes text searches much easier.

This is a science based, best practice text, with info grouped into thematic chapters logically arranged. The language will be accessible and understandable to the majority of readers, and can be read and understood by middle grades up through adult ages. The chapters contain interesting overviews over current research into puberty in modern western society (beginning earlier and lasting longer), some content about what to expect for the majority of adolescents, what happens when the unexpected happens, and other "awkward" thoughts. It's a reassuring and honest book, written by medical professionals who are experienced in puberty subjects as well as "translating" info into layman accessible language.

The thematic chapters cover: breasts, male genitalia, periods, hair, acne, body odor, growth spurts, sleep (vital info here that most people don't know), brain development, mood swings, mental health, body image, youth sports overspecialization, sex, contraception (including STIs & STDs), sexual orientation, gender identity, and friendships & peer influence.

The authors/publisher have also included an abbreviated but useful bibliography and index. The text is annotated throughout.

Five stars. This would be an excellent (and important) choice for public and school library acquisition, as well as for adults in resource positions who work with adolescents and for the home library. Given the current state of book challenges and banning in the USA, acquisitions personnel and librarians should be aware that this book covers sexuality and gender issues directly and without covering up specifics. There are case studies throughout with personal revelations which are touching, sometimes funny, and often sad.

Puberty is a vulnerable and fast changing period of a child's life and having a good support guide for them and the adults in their lives is incredibly important.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Reading updates

5 November, 2023: Started reading

5 November, 2023: Finished reading

5 November, 2023: Reviewed