KIDS STILL HAVING KIDS

Bode follows up her often-censored Kids Having Kids (1980) with a smorgasbord approach to such topics as sex, pregnancy, abortion, foster care, adoption, and parenting. Brief stories of teenagers' experiences—combined with small boxed statistical facts and followed by advice from the writer and adult professionals- -become sound bites, predictable in form, that will work especially well with consumers who spot-read sections most relevant to them. Emotionally, the stories don't make easy reading (e.g., in reports of pregnancy resulting from incest). At the close, Bode catches up with the storytellers, again using their tales to impart important information. Overall, what readers will find is the contrast between outcomes for mature teens and for immature adolescents who depend on their child's love to transform them. Glossary; notes; bibliography; index not seen. (Nonfiction. 12+)