In 'The Birds, The Bees,' Teens Take On Sex Ed
In Olivia Hinebaugh's new novel, a girl gets fed up with her school's abstinence-only classes and sets herself up as a sex ed expert, handing out condoms and advice with help from her mom, a nurse.
This past fall, I was invited to be in the room when my niece gave birth to her third child (Hello, Liam!). As a writer who has no children and never will, I recognized this as an educational opportunity I could not pass up. What I did not realize was that it would be exactly the experience I needed to prepare myself for this review.
Lacey Burke, the 17-year-old protagonist of , is a strong-willed feminist who's comfortable in her own body and knows her own mind. She was raised by an even stronger-willed feminist mother, a nurse in a maternity ward. Lacey has a keen interest and an aptitude for nursing as well. She interns as a doula, and even considers changing her focus to a college with a stronger nursing program.
