Sex Plus: Learning, Loving, and Enjoying Your Body

Sex is a constellation of thoughts and emotions, suggests Green (host of the YouTube series Sex Plus) in this affirming guide for teens. Green opens with a recollection of her own adolescence and insufficient sex education: “It was difficult to make sense of this world I found myself in as a teenager. It felt like I was being crushed by the weight of my own sexuality.” She goes on to share her views on the meaning behind sex positivity, next candidly discussing menstruation, masturbation, gender identity, and safer sex, as well as issues of sexual exploration, kink, and forming relationships. Throughout, she shares and corrects common misconceptions about sex (the hymen “cannot reliably indicate whether someone has had sex or not” and “there is a slightly-too-popular belief that foreskin is ‘dirty’ and should thus be removed with circumcision. This is simply not true.”). Diagrams, charts, and infographics vary the presentation style. Green tackles serious issues of sexual violence, consent, and stigma with clarity and integrity while bringing humor and camaraderie to a strikingly broad discussion of sexuality. Ages 16–up. (Sept.)