American Medical Association Boy's Guide to Becoming a Teen

I bought this book for my son. I have read the entire thing cover to cover and have decided that he is only ready for some of the material at this point. He will be allowed to read the whole thing in a year or two. This book gives great info on health and hygiene as well as changes in the body during puberty. There are comments about becoming sexually active that I am not comfortable with at this point but I think that may just be because I don't think my son is old enough for the details.I do recommend this book but encourage parents to read it and decide for themselves if their son(s) should read the whole thing or not.

No questions needed after my son read this book. This book if perfect for boys. It touches base on hygiene and taking care of yourself. Some of my husband's friends got a kick out of reading it, but it perfectly prepares boys that need help or have any curious tendencies. I am so glad I found this book. I highly recommend this book for parents with curious boys.

I bought this book as part of a three book set, including "The Teenage Guy's Survival Guide" by Daldry and "The Guy Book, An Owner's Manual" by Jukes, to explain growing up to my son (see my other reviews).

This book is by far the lower level book of those three. It appears to be at about a 4th - 5th grade reading level, and is printed in a larger font, making it an easy read for even a younger or reading disabled pre-teen boy.
The illustrations are numerous and cartoonish, and should make it more attractive to younger readers.

This book is very basic, and is geared more towards a basic understanding of what is happening to the boy's body. It includes short, easy to read sections on physical changes (both sexual and general body growth and development, with good illustrations of growing male anatomy, with genital self-exams and health concerns explained very well, this may be the ONLY puberty book for boys that does that!), physical health, diet, mental health (depression, changing emotions, coping with death of a loved one, and parental divorce), feelings, social changes, and, at the last chapter, sex. The sex chapter delves into the areas of changing feelings towards girls, crushes, dating, peer pressure (including bullying and pressure to have sex), and STDs (very brief, very vague). It also has a special two page section on sexual harrassment and what's OK and NOT OK. Very cool! This book has two VERY SHORT paragraphs on "having a crush on another boy", but doesn't explain it at all, except to say that it can be complicated to figure out who you are attracted to, and that these feelings may change many times throughout your life. It advocates discussing these feelings with an adult, and gives no references to hotlines or resources. I think I can safely say it glazes over the topic and makes it go away. Which is probably good for very young pre-teens that are not ready to experiment that way yet (or for children being raised by parents who don't support it).

This book has an excellent terminology dictionary in the back!

This book appears to have been written much like anyone would expect a medical reference book for pre-teens to have been written, and functions much like one would assume a "health class" in school would. It is very wide in it's scope, but not detailed in anything. It promotes health and healthy choices. It reads like a reference book, which may be good or not, depending on the boy and how he was raised. The lack of commentary and story-telling may bring a sense of comfort to boys not ready to delve into these topics comfortably on a casual level.

I highly recommend it as the very first book to introduce puberty to young pre-teen boys (say ages 10 or 11) or older boys with learning disabilities or ADD as it is easy to read and not overwhelming (I say this from experience as my son has both). A great first book on the topic!

I also think this would be a good book for young girls who are curious about puberty in boys, as it shows male anatomy in a non-threatening way, and most of the health and social topics are also fitting for a girl of the same age, and would show a girl that boys face many of the same social challeneges they also face, but from the boy's perspective.

I purchased on the recommendation of our school nurse for my 5th Grader. I read it first and was pleasantly surprised. Deffinitely not a "how to" manual. Clear, concise, kid friendly language.

My grandson actually thanked me for this one. He will be 12 soon. . .