Dirty Little Secrets

services for minors. Some cities have meetings for adolescents, but they are not common.

www.whatcontraceptiveareyou.com.au/compare-contraception-options

Condoms are the only contraception that provides protection against both pregnancy and STDs. But this Australian website offers an interesting breakdown of the various other contraceptive devices available. The chart includes what each contraceptive is, how long it lasts, how it works, and what to consider. The site also has a survey to discover which type of contraception works best with your lifestyle.

SELECT BOOKS ABOUT SEX AND RELATIONSHIPS FOR TEENS

Michael J. Basso. The Underground Guide to Teenage Sexuality, 2nd ed. (Minneapolis: Fairview Press, 2003).

This is a basic but informative, fact-based question-and-answer guide for boys and girls about sexual development.

Ruth Bell. Changing Bodies, Changing Lives: A Book for Teens on Sex and Relationships, 3rd ed. (New York: Three Rivers Press, 1998).

From the original Our Bodies, Ourselves, here is comprehensive information for boys and girls about sexuality, including quotes, poems, and writings from teenagers.

Kerry Cohen. Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity (New York: Hyperion, 2008).

The author’s memoir about her struggle with the need for male attention.

Heather Corinna. S.E.X.: The All-You-Need-To-Know Progressive Sexuality Guide to Get through High School and College, Illustrated ed. (New York: De Capo Press, 2007).

Corinna, owner of the website www.scarleteen.com, provides every possible aspect of sex education to her readers in a unique, upbeat, provocative style.

Kelly Huegel. GLBTQ: The Survival Guide for Queer and Questioning Teens (Minneapolis: Free Spirit Publishing, 2003).

This book covers everything there is to know for queer teens or teens who are questioning their sexual orientation.

SELECT BOOKS ABOUT TEENAGERS AND SEX FOR PARENTS

Ellen Bass and Kate Kaufman. Free Your Mind: The Book for Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Youth and Their Allies (New York: Harper Perennial, 1996).

This book is about sexual orientation and intended for youths, but it is also useful for adults who need to know.

Dominic Cappello and Pepper Schwartz. Ten Talks Parents Must Have with Their Children about Sex and Character (New York: Hyperion, 2000).

A detailed, layered book to prep parents for talking with their kids about sex. The best part of this book are the stories and correlating discussion questions included to read with your teens.

Debra Haffner. Beyond the Big Talk: Every Parent’s Guide to Raising Sexually Healthy Teens from Middle School to High School and Beyond (New York: Newmarket Press, 2002).

Haffner provides guidelines for sexual development and health, broken down by ages.

Logan Levkoff. Third Base Ain’t What It Used to Be: What Your Kids Are Learning About Sex Today—And How to Teach Them to Become Sexually Healthy Adults (New York: NAL Trade, 2007).

This book covers information about what teens face today when it comes to sex and sexual health.

Ronald Moglia and Jon Knowles. All about Sex: A Family Resource on Sex and Sexuality (New York: Three Rivers Press, 1997).

This book provides the latest information on every imaginable aspect of sexuality, including tantric sex, human reproduction, and sexual pleasure.

Lynn Ponton. The Sex Lives of Teenagers: Revealing the Secret World of Adolescent Boys and Girls (New York: Plume, 2001).

Ponton’s book examines a number of teen cases to demonstrate the various ways teenagers experience their sexuality.

Justin Richardson and Mark Schuster. Everything You Never Wanted Your Kids to Know about Sex (But Were Afraid They’d Ask): The Secrets to Surviving Your Child’s Sexual Development from Birth to the Teens (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2004).

This is a humorous, fun, and thorough guide to dealing with sexuality and your child, starting from toddlerhood.

Deborah M. Roffman. Sex and Sensibility: The Thinking Parent’s Guide to Talking Sense about Sex (New York: De Capo Press, 2001).

This is a more serious research-based but still readable guide to sex and your teens.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

^{PHOTO BY HEATHER HAWKSFORD}

KERRY COHEN is the author of Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity; the forthcoming memoir Seeing Ezra, about parenting her autistic son; as well as three young-adult novels, Easy, The Good Girl, and It’s Not You, It’s Me. Her work has been featured in the New York Times and the Washington Post, as well as in numerous anthologies and journals. She has appeared on Dr. Phil, Saturday Live on the BBC, and morning news shows to speak about the loose-girl issue, and she was featured on the WE Network’s documentary series The Secret Lives of Women, about sex addiction. She is a practicing psychotherapist and writing teacher, and she lives with her family in Portland, Oregon. For more details, visit www.kerry-cohen.com.