Losing It

Gr 9 Up—This collection of short stories about firsts-specifically first sexual experiences-includes serious, comic, tragic, historical, and cultural selections. Contributors include Melvin Burgess, Patrick Ness, A.S. King, Andrew Smith, and several other, mostly well-known YA authors. Some entries are stronger than others, and cover the gamut: a Victorian girl having to turn to prostitution in order to help support her brothers, a nerdy boy paired with a "reformed slut" for a class project, a boy wondering if all the sexual fooling around with a male friend means he's no longer a virgin, a girl picked up for shoplifting a music CD for her boyfriend, an Indian girl visiting her relatives who finally learns the truth about the death of her aunt, a student athlete wondering if he will ruin the team's chances in the championship game if he has sex, and a health teacher remembering her experiences as a teen. The stories are uniformly engaging and polished, but a few reference British personalities and incidents with which most readers will not be familiar. None of the stories are graphic, but the subject matter alone will interest older teens and give insight into this rite of passage.—Suanne B. Roush, Osceola High School, Seminole, FL