| ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. | |
| PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. | |
| OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. | |
| NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
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.
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.
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.
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?
| Author: | Kristen Tracy |
| Book type: | Fiction |
| Genre: | Coming of Age |
| Publisher: | Simon Pulse |
| Publication date: | January 23, 2007 |
| Number of pages: | 288 |
| Paperback price: | $6.99 |
| Publisher's recommended age(s): | 14 - 17 |
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