Chris Richards and Liz Jones

Evangelical Press, 2014, £7.99 Pb 76pp, ISBN 9780852349991
Reviewed by Pippa Peppiatt, CMF Nurses' Student Staffworker

This is a short book, very accessible and well illustrated. It explains puberty, marriage and sex all from the perspective of being wonderfully created by God.

I read it with my twelve year old son who, although he found the style of writing young for him, still benefitted from a read 'with mum' to plug any gaps of his knowledge.

After dealing in adequate detail with the changes that happen in the body for pubescent boys, it was good that the following chapter addressed changes in the body in girls. My son informed me that sexual education at his state primary school (year five and six) separated sexes for its puberty talks, so my son appreciated learning about the changes in the opposite sex. We used the book as a springboard for discussion, and so it was really helpful. There is a companion volume for girls.

The thing I most appreciated, which distinguishes it from many other books on puberty, was the Christian, biblical context throughout; that God is the one who has ordained the different seasons in our lives, and that growing up and puberty is his idea in the first place. My son found this reassuring. And that these changes take place in readiness for future adult responsibilities, physical intimacy within marriage and the opportunity to procreate. All God designed and for his glory!