Nikol HaslerReseñas

Reissue of her previous book with updated info. Big fan of her podcast back in the day. I hope she is able to do more in the future. I'm of the opinion that she is very talented.

Great book for my 14 year old boy. Plain spoken, non-judgmental, addresses all sexualities. Talks about condoms, abuse, porn (as not a realistic depiction of sex), masturbation, etc. It asks key questions instead of leading you to think one way or another about touchy subjects. The abortion discussion is very frank about social stigma, how my may feel and what information you may need to make a decision like that. It also warns against false pregnancy clinics. It talks about the responsibilities of being sexually active, and ads humor to keep you comfortable. Important for a healthy sexual view.

Great book for my 14 year old boy. Plain spoken, non-judgmental, addresses all sexualities. Talks about condoms, abuse, porn (as not a realistic depiction of sex), masturbation, etc. It asks key questions instead of leading you to think one way or another about touchy subjects. The abortion discussion is very frank about social stigma, how my may feel and what information you may need to make a decision like that. It also warns against false pregnancy clinics. It talks about the responsibilities of being sexually active, and ads humor to keep you comfortable. Important for a healthy sexual view.

VOYA:
My Rating: 3Q 4P

This book is not your grandmother’s sex education book! As the title indicates, it is an “uncensored” guide. It is an honest break down of everything a teenager should or would like to know about sex. Its subject matter encompasses just thinking about sex, dating and relationships, the physical act of having sex, the possible outcomes or consequences and most importantly, safety. It provides an open and humorous education for the questions that many teens want to ask, but don’t. I appreciate Hasler’s frank, non-apologetic presentation of material. The illustrations are quite funny as well. This book would be best suited for young adults in high school.

I had forgotten that I requested this as an Early Reviewer copy ... the cover caught me off guard. :) I am all for good book covers, but I have to wonder if some teens might be hesitant to carry around a book with a cover of cows humping. That being said, that is the only thing I found myself questioning about this book. The book was accessible - the language was clear but also catered to teens with some humor throw in. Q & A's at the end of each chapter tackle common questions teens might have - and they are sure to enjoy the "there are no stupid questions - except for this one." The index is a great tool and I appreciated that the author provided additional additional resources at the end of the book.

Best sex book for teens I have ever seen. I might have shrieked with delight when I saw vocabulary like "cisgendered"...word I hadn't been introduced to until taking university level Gender Studies courses. Language is definitely at the teen level. Blunt and straight forward...as it should be.

I really, REALLY wish there had been a book like this when I was a teenager. REALLY.

I requested this book from Early Reviewers because, honestly, I didn't have a lot of sexual education as a teen, beyond the clinical-talk from Sex Ed class. Yes, I'm an adult now and slightly more experienced, but in some ways I really still am a confused teenager when it comes to this stuff.

This is an awesome book. While the opening chapters cover the basic what's-what, this book goes far beyond that and actually answers questions and talks about things that most "sex guides" wouldn't dare. The author approaches topics such as masturbation, anal sex, the nervousness of the first time, and so on in a straight forward and completely non-condescending tone, joking and explaining in a way that makes it feel more like you are talking to your best friend instead of reading a sex guide.

I was also surprised at the sheer amount of non-"vanilla" information in this book. There are chapters on oral and anal sex, as well as a very informative chapter about kinks, and plenty of information for glbt teens as well. I looove the Q&A section at the end of each chapter.

I would definitely recommend this book to ANY teenager, regardless of their sexual experience/needs/wants/etc. This is the ONLY book geared towards teens that I have found to actually approach this subject in a teen-friendly way while not being condescending or overly-protective. This is REAL.

This book is funny, informative, accurate, and accessible. It is way better than anything that was readily available when I was growing up, that's for sure. The cover art was a bit of a surprise, but amusing. I'm not sure whether it will lead to potential readers being too shy to be seen with it, but it's unlikely they'd be reading this where others could see to begin with.

The questions and the slightly cheesy humor throughout are probably the best parts along with a range of resources for teens to follow up with for more information. It is a very good basic book, but no book can answer every question for everyone.

I would say this book is meant for kids middle school age and up. Most of the time adults err on the side of caution and give children this information later out of fear that they will encourage early experimentation, or with the idea that "She/he is not ready." I strongly believe it is better for kids to have access to this information before they need it. If they are not ready they will put it aside, usually with some comment along the lines of "EW." Ignorance is not bliss with regard to sexuality, as the There Are No Stupid Questions-- Except For This One section at the end of each chapter demonstrates.

This book covers all the bases (pun intended). I liked the humor, especially "There Are No Stupid Questions - Except This One, questions. I guess it has humping cows on the cover because it was written by the host of the "Midwest Teen Sex Show"? I doubt that very many teens would pick up or carry this book around in public. There is an index (yay!), and there are recommended websites, and other books listed in the back. As a basic book it is great. Of course no one book could ever get to the bottom of sex.

Why am I reading a sex education book for teens? Two reasons: I loved the Midwest Teen Sex Show (M.T.S.S.), written by and starring Nikol Hasler, and I’ve been mentoring teens at a high school for the last five years. The Midwest Teen Sex Show was an incredibly funny and informative internet web show. They have’t had a new episode for over a year now. I believe they were attempting to make a pilot for Comedy Central. And the kids I’ve worked with have questions, lots of questions. Sex ed leaves a lot to be desired. I was hoping Sex: A Book for Teens would carry the M.T.S.S. humor over, and that it would really cover the questions teens wanted to know. And while it’s a solid book, Hasler’s writing failed to meet my expectations on both counts.

The guide is much better than anything I had when I was a teen, which was essentially nothing. I didn’t even get abstinence education. The school I went to told everyone how fertilization worked, and that was about it. I haven’t sat through any sex ed with the students I work with, so I don’t know how much better it is. But their questions are further along than mine were at that point so I expect they are getting better information than I had.

The M.T.S.S. humor is extremely zany, and often physical. They wouldn’t think twice about having a performer dress up in a giant condom. In Sex: A Book for Teens, the humor seems like the Tonight Show version, toned down and enamored of itself. About the only parts I thought really funny were the last question in the Q&A section at the end of each chapter. That question was always titled There Are No Stupid Questions—Except for This One. An example: I am really mad at my ex for breaking up with me and then still showing up whenever he wants some action. What is the best STI I can get quickly and give to him? An example of the standard humor is this advice for when folks score: It also means you can get out your foam I’m Number One! finger and wave it all around. Meh.

As for advice, it’s all good. And it goes way beyond the standard this-is-how-things-work information into stuff lots of parents and adults don’t want to talk about. It covers the topics it really should (though often times I think the focus is misplaced). It’s very accepting of homosexuality, for instance. It’s got real explanations of the risks of birth control failing. It constantly flogs Planned Parenthood as a good resource. The list of good stuff is quite lengthy.

But it leaves some pretty common issues barely touched. The section on losing one’s virginity doesn’t really answer the question How do I go about arranging it? It warns against doing it if the person isn’t ready (good). It warns of risks (good). It suggests knowing one’s body and that of the gender one wants to get busy with (good). But the guide leaves off questions like how do I bring this up with the other person?, where should we do it?, etc. One of the biggest misconceptions the kids seem to have (and I had too) was that sex wasn’t romantic if it was planned. Combine that with some taboos that say girls (and boys on occasion) aren’t proper if they seem interested in sex, and you get kids who just try to make it happen without real planning. The section on technique for straight kids mentions missionary position and suggest other positions but doesn’t name them or explain them. Nothing about using pillows to put someone in the right position, for instance. Masturbation for boys doesn’t cover cleanup.

A 181 page book can’t cover everything. It doesn’t have to cater to what I think is important. But the subjects I wrote about above, as well as others, came up over and over when I talked with students. The book answers a fair number of important questions, but leaves off a good chunk too. It’s worthwhile compared to what I had (nothing), but I don’t know how it compares to other teen sex advice books out there, since I’m not familiar with them. I really hope this is not the cream of the crop, cause it could be tons better.

Review also at: http://reading.kingrat.biz/reviews/sex-book-for-teens-nikol-hasler

I work in a high school library and requested this book from the list of ERs because kids can't have enough choices to get good information about sex and sexuality so they can make good choices. Sex: A Book for Teens is written in a conversational manner, not like a lecture, and the illustrations are simple line drawings. The only clinical language comes in a table of STIs, how one contracts them, their symptoms, tests to diagnose them, and treatments. At the end of each chapter is a question and answer section with the types of concerns that shy and confused teens may ask if given a trustworthy confidant.

One of the interesting things I liked about this book is that the second chapter concerns sexuality and the confusing feelings that teens are bombarded with. I thought that it was a logical place for this subject, rather than as an afterthought at the end of the book. This, and all of the subjects in this book, are treated in an offhand manner but with respect, letting the teen reader know that they are not the first (or last) to have these feelings and questions and they are indeed, normal.

If a teen cannot get answers in this book, there is a list of websites and phone numbers at the end such as Planned Parenthood, National Domestic Abuse Hotline, and their own Midwest Teen Sex Show, which provided much of the material covered.

The only unfortunate aspect of this book, in my opinion, is the cover art, a large profile of a bull mounting a cow. Since it screams the subject matter, I worry that a shy teen may not borrow this book since its topic can be identified at a distance. While I'm not suggesting that it hide in a plain brown paper wrapping, something more subtle might be better.

This is a delightful little book which I think teens (especially of the junior high/early high school age) will love. Although sometimes the humor is a bit cheesy, this book is down-to-earth, has amusing illustrations (the humping cows on the cover being a case in point) and provides necessary information and cautions without scaring the crap out of the reader or making them feel guilty. Now that I'm done with it, I'm thinking of giving this book to one of my relevant-age nephews.

This is a great book, but it assumes a more rudimentary knowledge of puberty and the reproductive cycle. Once kids have gotten that information under their belt in their younger years, I imagine that they can make great use of this book and the website and podcasts at The Midwest Teen Sex Show which takes sex education topics and turns them into a sketch comedy show. Nikol Hasler definately takes sarcasm to incredibly high levels on her show, and it shows up in her book, but to less of an extreme. The sarcasm is intended to appeal to teens, but almost to the detriment of actually conveying factual information. This book has been picked up by adults and teens as they come in to our house, and gets lent out a lot. Not the definitive guide, but interesting and a good read. Younger children the 10-14 set will need some more factual information before this book. Go with "What's Happening to my Body?" first for younger kids before moving on to something like this.

I thought that this book was great! I'm a teen, so as part of the target audience I loved it! It explained things well, and had jokes peppered through to keep things light. It had a lot of information for homosexual teens as well as straight teens, and information for guys and girls. I really liked the Q and A at the end of each chapter, because it covered a lot of things that could happen. I think that I learned a lot about safe sex, my body, and communication. I'll definitely be holding on to this for reference!

Here are the details from a web review from Seattle Pi:
http://www.seattlepi.com/books/421137_136445-blogcritics.org.html

"Sex is matter-of-fact, smart, funny, occasionally smart-ass, incredibly informative, and, as the subtitle warns, uncensored. Hasler doesn’t hold back. Her chapters cover everything from the expected topics such as the body, birth control, dating and STDs to the more controversial issues such as sexual identity, masturbation, kinks, fantasies, and fetishes. Very little seems to be out of bounds, and Hasler presents her information with a breezy, practical objectivity that should appeal to teens with its absence of adult judgement. While the first chapter, “Your Body: How It Works and How to Treat It,” may strike some kids as overly reminiscent of health class, Hasler spices up the anatomy lessons with some very non-boring side bars on subjects such as “The Biology of Boners” and “What’s In a Name” – a rundown of slang terms for genitalia. Lest parents be turned off by the apparent frivolity, these sections exist in order to draw kids through the essential information that they may have tuned out during the aforementioned health class – information critical to the maintenance of proper reproductive health."

Hasler does a good job of going over all the details that kids want to know about sex including trans issues and STDs, even a chapter on fetish!I felt this book was aimed specifically for one target audience. Straight girls. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there is something in here my son can get out of this book (at least a good laugh) but I have a feeling when I show him this he will feel left out. The writing flows with a natural assumption of heteronormativity that is a little irksome but I guess it's to be expected. I suppose this is better than what passes for sex ed in a text book from Texas so I'm not really going to complain all that much. So I would recommend this book as an average book for at least starting a conversation about sex with teenagers and supplementing with Our Bodies Ourselves for young women and Changing Bodies, Changing Lives for young men