Shannon T. Boodram

Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

Editor Shannon T. Boodram is a journalist who got her start as a sexual educator on Canadian National Network at the age of nineteen. Since that time, she's been busy creating podcasts, putting together LAID, and serving as an expert on different sexuality panels.

The basics of LAID are this: Young people ages 18-25 were asked to share a life-changing sexual experience that they had went through in their teens. The purpose was to present the information - the good, the bad, and the ugly - to teens everywhere in a non-threatening, non-judgmental, non-preachy way. In this respect, Ms. Boodram has definitely succeeded. You can tell from each story that the contributors had put thought into how to tell their story, so that readers would come away with a feeling of having learned something rather than being judged.

The book is broken up into five separate parts: Hookups that Fell Down (negative sexual experiences), And Then I Saw Stars (positive sexual experiences), Haven't Been Quite Right Since that Night (consequences of sex), When NO! Loses All Meaning (date rape and sexual abuse), and Save Your Cherry...Or Banana (abstinence and abstaining).

I'll be honest: Some of the stories included in LAID are hard to read. Some are downright heartbreaking. Others show the need to be fully informed before heading into a sexual relationship. I found the Q & A sections to be enlightening, with information on sex and sexuality given in a no-nonsense manner that older teens are sure to relate to. As sex in all its forms becomes more readily available to youth of all ages (television, radio, Internet), it's the perfect time to have a book such as this one.

Overall, a good read for those contemplating their sexuality or questioning whether it's time for them to have sex. Although there are no hard-and-fast answers in LAID, reading about the experiences of their peers is sure to be helpful to a lot of readers.… (mere)

Laid is an anthology of personal stories about young people's experiences with sex, be it first times, sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, rape, love and everything in between. It has the very important element of person stories and emotions that are missing from the sexual education people receive. The introduction of emotion and personal stories made it for me, so much more important and meaningful than the lists and statistics you would find in health class. If it could happen to this person it could happen to you. It made it more real.

I like how the stories were grouped into themed sections, though it did get tough reading some of the more serious stories all in a row. Overall the stories were pretty easy to relate to and understand. Though, I noticed in a few cases I didn't feel like I had enough backstory or was confused by a few things mentioned by the person. I definitely preferred the narratives to the poetic selections but I liked that there was a variety of writing methods used by the different authors. The perspectives are also varied from both men and women, straight and gay. The editor really did her job fleshing it out with variety to the best of her ability. You can tell how important this anthology is to her, sharing her own stories throughout and sharing insight that she's learned through her work as a sexual educator.

And while this is a book of personal stories there are still the facts and figures you'd expect, and also a Q&A after each chapter with all the questions you might have about what you have just read and also checkpoints to reflect on you own experiences and perspective. I think this book is a really important tool for teaching and learning about sexuality for young and old alike. I can't think of a soul that shouldn't read this.… (mere)