Joshua Austin

Advanced Health

Non-fiction book review

May 2013

Changing Bodies, Changing Lives explains the way change can affect the young and the simple-minded. The change that is the main focus in the book is the change of the body during adolescence and how it affects you and the world around you.

This large and extremely thorough text has no barriers or fears, and will leave a noticeable mark in your mind. It covers everything from sex and what happens in both partners’ bodies, to everything that leads up to sex, like dating, marriage, peer pressure, coming out of the closet, drug abuse, to everything post-coitus, such as pregnancy and STD’s. The book doubles as both a self-help book for youth going through physical and emotional change and as a miniature medical book for people lacking proper sexual education.

While reading Changing Bodies, Changing Lives, I felt myself gaining more insight in not only both male and female sexuality, but in drug abuse and abusive relationships. I can say that this book would not be suited for an afternoon read, but as a school textbook. The text does not attempt to spin itself to appear more pleasant to a very young audience. The pictures are also making no attempt to show censorship. These facts show that this book can only be truly read and understood by a mature audience.

One issue I had with the book was the section on homosexuality. I am sure Ruth Bell wrote this book with best intentions, but this section came off as slightly ignorant. In this section, she talks about how “gay teens meet in organization set up for gays, like gay clubs”. It implies that homosexual teens should hang out with other homosexuals, as opposed to just being friends with whomever. Many times in the book, AIDS is treated like a death sentence. This section also discusses chat rooms quite a bit, as it does throughout the whole book, but that may be due to the fact that this book was published in 1998.

Despite that issue, Changing Bodies, Changing Lives is completely unbiased. The section on homosexuality tries its best to be completely tolerant. The section on pregnancy talks in detail about abortion and how to make the decision to get one. A person with a more conservative perspective on health and sexuality should read this book with a grain of salt.

I would recommend Changing Bodies, Changing Lives as a textbook, despite being slightly outdated. I give this book four out of five stars. It is also a great method book for giving kids “the talk” when a parent really does not want to.

Ruth Bell

Three Rivers Press, 1998