Customer Reviews
Truly a landmark resource - excellent! 
2008-05-26
In addition to a number of colleagues recommending this book over the years, recently at a symposium this resource was deemed as the "turning point in US sexuality education." Quite a claim, so naturally, I couldn't put off picking up a copy at that point.
After performing a meta-analysis of resources from 1990 to 2008, I found it quite remarkable how many books and resources have cited and stemmed from this resource, in written, web, curriculum and training formats, and deservedly so. The Underground Guide to Teenage Sexuality is factual, direct, comprehensive and interweaves many of the critical issues that impact sexual health and decision-making that are usually absent from most other resources. This book seems to have served as the juncture from the "birds and the bees" to open and balanced discussion of sexual health.
As a stand-alone read for most teens, or as a teaching resource for physicians, parents, or teachers, I found this book to promote the values of honesty, responsibility, and ethics, and purposely, so it seemed, omit any moral perspective, thus allowing wide use, adoption, and utility among adults from diverse religious perspectives who are interested in infusing their personal moral beliefs within a sexual health framework - this is truly a masterful design.
As many of the other reviewers have echoed, I too have found the Underground Guide to Teenage Sexuality to be an outstanding, landmark resource.
Be careful when handing this book to young teens 
2008-03-25
Though this book is VERY informative, I hesitate to encourage people to hand it over to their teen, especially teens younger than 15. The book is much a "how to" book. How to have sex, what an organism feels like, and how to put on a condom. Yes, it talks about pregnancy, abortion and STD's but it lacks moral decision making. This is where the parent steps in, to read the book with your child and talk to them about responsible decision making about their body and about sex and to instill your values and morals along with the "how to" book. I bought it for my 13 year old and hesitated before handing it over to her. I think I'll read it along with her. I do like that it is up front and answers questions directly.
One caution! 
2007-04-01
My Wife and I ordered this book for our teenage daughter. I have only scanned through it but my Wife has read it from cover to cover. Our only real concern is that on page 99 the author emplies that there is only a 1 in 600 million chance of being born since only 1 of the 600 million sperm is used to fertilize the ovum. The authors discussion makes it seem that it is hard to get pregnant. ITs not that hard to get pregnant! That does not mean more did not reach the ovum, but only one is used.
Also the 600 million number does not match what I find as a "normal sperm count" , which I find to be 40 and 100 million (20 million per milliliter of semen with 2 to 5 ml as a normal volume) Search the web on the quoted text above.
That is just not a reasonable statistical analysis. And in the easy reading format of the book I believe that a teenager could be mislead into believing it is hard to get pregnent.
If half stars were available I would have given it a 4 1/2 out of 5.
Balanced, Realistic, Comprehensive 2006-11-06
I've reviewed about a dozen teen sexuality education books for my practice and while there are a few good ones, this one by far leads the pack. - Pertinent topics of interest to teens and parents; easy-to-read format; an abundance of good illustrations; accurate information combined with realistic advice - just a great resource for teens, parents and practitioners like myself.
There is nothing underground about this book at all. 
2006-07-31
Basso's book is intended for younger teenagers, but it promotes abstinence, and is not reality based at all. As a high school teacher, he has to be conservative in this society, but today's teenagers will not accept his message, nor should they. The book is really sex-negative, and as such, it is not very relevant to today's teenagers, especially those 15-19.
Brilliant! 2006-03-17
The classic guide to teen sexuality updated and expanded with information on sexually-transmitted diseases; contraception; sexual abuse; healthy relationships; hotlines and resources; and much more
Underground Guide to Teenage Sexuality 2006-01-15
A useful guide about contraceptives, barrier methods, waiting/abstinence, and general questions surrounding sexuality. This book presents itself from a teenage perspective and can be useful to reacing out to this demographic, especially when it comes to explaining things that parents find it difficult to talk about.
Good Illustrations, Good Diversity, Medically Accurate 2004-12-30
I found this book to present medically accurate information, realistic application of this information, and very much cutting-edge on topics teens and their parents need to know about these days.
This book has more illustrations than any others I have seen and depicts Hispanic, African-American, Asian, and Caucasian youth equally throughout. Additionally, this resource is very supportive of cultural and sexual minorities which I found to be refreshing.
I highly recommend it!
Outstanding Resource! 2004-12-08
Michael Basso has delivered a resource that clearly expresses profound respect for teens, equity for all people of all races and religions, and the sincere belief backed by his success that all teens can make good decisions regarding their health, sex, and life. He is truly gifted as an educator and as a professional in the realm of health psychology and behavior, and appears to be responsible for many of the positive trends forming in adolescent health today. Michael Basso is thoughtful, real, and sensitive to the needs of teens and the adults who care for them. I use this resource everyday in my work with teens and the response is tremendous. Outstanding resource!
Comprehensive Guide for Teens and Parents 2004-10-11
Mr. Basso has written an excellent comprehensive guide on teenage sexuality with a few bonus topics such as depression and family dynamics. He uses language that is appropriate for teens and offers real-life responses for difficult situations. He provides web-site addresses to reliable resources for more information. There are a few typograhpics errors and omissions that I hope will be corrected in the 3rd edition. Finally, he attempts to create a multi-racial cover and cartoon depictions, but the majority of the characters in the cartoons are Caucasian. I hope the book will become more multi-racial in future editions.
