teen fiction - orchestra musicians in their senior year, aspiring to go to Berklee College, feminist main character becomes advice columnist after being incensed by her school's "abstinence only" sex-ed policy. I didn't really see any LGBTQA interest, though she'll probably touch on some topics later.

This got good reviews, so I think it's probably a decently solid teen read--I only got a dozen or so pages in; seems like I've read before--but maybe with more interesting characters?
Would probably still recommend, esp. to orchestra kids. ( )

Say you wrote a Masters Thesis entitled Manifesto on Safe and Consentual Sex Regardless of Gender Identification. Say you then decided to publish it as a Young Adult Novel and needed a catchy title. There you have The Birds, The Bees and You and Me.

Lacey's mom gave birth to her at age 16. She's a nurse and a total advocate of safe sex education, knowing abstinence just doesn't do it. In Lacey's "Life Choices" class, they are teaching abstinence and when Lacey brings up subjects like using condoms, the teacher is annoyed. One thing leads to another and all of the sudden Lacey is the go-to person if you need information on sex--regardless of the fact that she's never even been kissed.

The story goes on. and covers all the bases--a pregrant teen, an asexual friend, a straight guy wearing eye-liner, etc. and covers most of the types of sexual encounters teens might have. It also covers the college choices teens need to make.

The Birds the Bees and You and Me is a feel good inforamtive story about teens and sex and consent and life choices. It truly is a Manifesto about safe sex wrapped around the stories of Lacey, Evita and Theo. Not a must read, but certainly a reasonably enjoyable one. ( )

​Best friends Lacey, Theo and Evita have their year planned out- do good in school, practice their music apply to Berklee and live together in Boston jamming together with their band. However, things begin to change for Lacey. Lacey's mom was a teenage mom, now a labor and delivery nurse who has always been upfront and direct with Lacey about sex, consent, protection and staying healthy. Lacey has no experience with this herself, she has never even been kissed. But when her senior seminar class begins to preach abstinence only education and being fearful or ashamed of sex, Lacey steps up in order to make sure her classmates are safe and protected, Lacey becomes a guru for sex questions and she, Theo and Evita help pass out condoms and other forms of protection to students. The school is not appreciative of their efforts, however and suspends the trio for passing out lewd material. In between all of this, Lacey and Theo realize that they have feelings for one another and begin to navigate a sexual relationship of their own.

The Birds, The Bees, and You and Me is a wonderful, sex-positive and health conscious story that is appropriate and informational for young adults while being entertaining. I loved Lacey's character as well as her mom. Even though Lacey was inexperienced, she held a wealth of knowledge thanks to her mother's open attitude and positive conversations. Not everyone can have a mom like Lacey's though, which is why it is important for schools to teach about sexual health. The reaction from the school was very surprising to me, it seemed to me that if they could turn a blind eye to all of the pregnant girls maybe they could do the same for a girl passing out condoms. I do wish that Lacey, Evita and Theo would have worked with the adults more for their project instead of going rouge. I do like how everything panned out in the end. Another great aspect to the story was the friendship between Lacey, Theo and Evita. Talking things out with friends is another step in healthy relationships and these guys had a lot of difficult conversations. The straightforward conversations between Lacey and Theo about consent and sex are wonderful examples of how to start a sexual relationship. In reading these conversations, they did seem a little awkward and uncomfortable to me, but I also think that is the reality of the situation. Lacey and Theo's budding romance as well as their band add to the excitement of this fun and realistic young adult novel.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. ( )