Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that the main character discusses losing her virginity. She talks about the experience and subsequent sexual encounters. The sexual encounters aren't graphic, but are still detailed. Another girl acts out violently by making and detonating a bomb. Parents abandon their children and are unfaithful to their spouses. While there are some positive adult role models, the teens are largely left on their own.
Families can talk about healthy relationships, sex education, and ways to cope with negative issues. Would Tess have made the same decisions if she had had access to sex education? How did Tess' worries about her family and friends hurt her relationship with Ben?
Common Sense Review
LOST IT is a pretty darn funny coming-of-age book that takes us through a complicated time in quirky teen Tess Whistle's life. In a twist, while Tess is exploring more grown-up relationships and sex, parents in the book are off experiencing a second adolescence. No meddling parents are shocked with Tess' explorations, and it's her grandmother who gives her a book on sexuality. It takes a pretty dangerous situation to get parents to take notice again.
The book is clear on what happens to girls like Tess without parenting -- they become dependent on their boyfriends for support, often too dependent. Still Tess' mistakes and her ability to cope offer positive lessons for mature teen readers.
From The Book
I didn't start out my junior year of high school planning to lose my virginity to Benjamin Easter -- a senior -- at his parents' cabin in Island Park underneath a sloppily patched, unseaworthy, upside-down canoe. Up to that point in my life, I'd been somewhat of a prude who'd avoided the outdoors, especially the wilderness, for the sole purpose that I didn't want to be eaten alive.
I'm from Idaho. The true West. And if there's a beast indigenous to North America that can kill you, it probably lives here. My whole life, well-meaning people have tried to alleviate my fear of unpredictable, toothy carnivores.
Plot Summary:
Tess Whistle is having a rough year. Her parents get some insane idea about joining a survival camp in Utah and leave her with her grandmother, plus her best friend builds a bomb and obsesses about blowing up a poodle. When a new boy shows up at school she falls for him instantly and hopes he can block out all the craziness in her life. Maybe, maybe not.
Related Books:
Other Coming-of-Age Stories:
The Sweet, Terrible, Glorious Year I Truly, Completely Lost It by Lisa Shanahan
Gert Garibaldi's Rants and Raves: One Butt Cheek at a Timeby Amber Kizer
Forever by Judy Blume
Reviewed: 01/02/2008
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentA girl talks about how her breasts are two different sizes. A teen discusses her heavy petting sessions with her boyfriend and how she lost her virginity. Her grandmother gives her a book on sex and sexuality. Talk of infidelity in a couple's marriage. |
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ViolenceA girl is injured in a car accident and an animal is killed. A girl creates a bomb and detonates it. |
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LanguageMild swearing. |
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Social BehaviorParents are uninvolved in their children's lives. A girl lies about having a medical condition. A girlfriend becomes obsessed with her relationship with her boyfriend. A girl becomes obsessed with blowing up a poodle. |
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CommercialismCars and Diet Coke mentioned |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoAdults drink alcohol. |
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