Customer Reviews

The Guy Book: An Owner's Manual (Maintenance, Safety, and Operating Instructions for Teens)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I got this book for my son when we got to the point that he had so many questions (technical in nature) that I couldn't remember the exact answer to (or don't know, not being a boy). I turned to my male friends for help, and one recommended "The Guy Book," which he had given to his 5 boys and they liked a lot. My son loved it. It has a lot of info on boys, their bodies, their issues with friends, and such necessary details as how to buy a corsage and tie a tie. My son asked intelligent questions, sparked by the book, and has read bits of it over and over.

The book is laid out in a non-threatening way, with fun illustrations and enough silly entries that it draws the reader in so that when they get to potentially embarassing material they just keep on going. It's also divided up so that, like the car repair manual it emulates, you can dip in to the one specific piece of info you need and then put it down until later.

Because of his interest, I've given this book to my nephews and recommended it to friends with pre-teens. Some of my nieces found it really useful, too, because it explains a lot about how and why boys do certain things.

I recommend this especially to parents who have trouble talking to their kids beyond a certain age, or single moms who, like me, just don't know the right answer. (If you don't know the answers, I recommend you read it. Then you'll know what you need to know to answer the next set of questions.)

The only thing wrong with this book is that I didn't write it. ;-)

I did, in fact, know from a young age that "scrotum" was the name of that particular part of my body. But I had absolutely no understanding of the startling, unnerving things that began happening to my body while I was in middle school. Despite spending hours and hours of quality time with my father, regularly working alongside him on his construction sites from a very young age, I was never given "The Talk."

Nor did I have a big brother or sister to guide me through an understanding of the physical changes, the intense feelings, or the perplexing social stuff at school. It was all totally baffling. The result was that throughout middle school I was a great student and a nervous wreck; a quiet kid filled with discomfort and uncertainty. It was bad enough to be picked on and called names without already thinking that the weird things I'd been experiencing were certain proof that there must be something wrong with me.

Unfortunately for me and my contemporaries, Mavis Jukes was still a high school student when I was struggling hormonally, emotionally, and socially in seventh and eighth grades. Fortunately for today's middle school students, Mavis grew up and eventually became an author. Thanks to her having written IT'S A GIRL THING: HOW TO STAY HEALTHY, SAFE, AND IN CHARGE, followed a few years later by THE GUY BOOK: AN OWNER'S MANUAL, today's Twenty-First Century middle school students can avoid being caught in the sort of position in which I found myself.

Today there are serious, potentially life-threatening consequences to traversing middle school while hamstrung by the ignorance with which I traversed it four decades ago. Mavis Jukes not only explains the workings of the body and the changes that adolescents are undergoing physically, but also talks about dangerous behaviors and myths that can kill and provides information about the availability of counseling for those having a bad time of things.

But in addition to the obvious need to understand such weighty topics as sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy, and the absolute need to understand that "'No' Never Means 'Yes,'" it is also essential that middle school students going through these developmental changes avoid having their self-esteem undermined by a lack of information, a problem that is so easily remedied by this book.

As noted on the KidsKeepHealthy website:

"Adolescents with high self-esteem are more likely to believe in themselves and have a sense of importance and self-respect. Self-esteem affects how your children will approach new tasks or challenges and how they interact with others. Teenage children with low self-esteem may avoid challenging activities or may give up quickly, quit, or cheat when things aren't going their way. A child with low self esteem may also be a bully, bossy, controlling, have a low level of self control, and have difficulty making friends."

THE GUY BOOK: AN OWNER'S MANUAL is not only an important source of information, it is an entertaining read. Beginning with the cover image and continuing throughout the book, the author employs an automotive metaphoric treatment with vintage car photos and title headings such as "Under the Hood," "Ignition System," "Rules of the Road: Driver Etiquette," and "Customizing: Developing Your Own Style." In the book's sixteen chapters there is a wealth of information on such practical topics as shaving, pimples, the rights and wrongs of ogling girls, the inside scoop on what their female peers are feeling, on crushes, on who pays when out on a date, on meeting a girl's parents, and on how to slow dance for the first time. Some of the information is downright hilarious -- at least in retrospect -- such as the author's explanation of which strategies employed in hopes of getting noticed by girls might result in your being seen by them in a positive light, and which strategies are bound to have quite the opposite effect. Some of the information is just so amazingly important, such as her discussion of feelings:

"Both boys and girls (and men and women) feel all ways: strong and weak, powerful and vulnerable, confident and insecure, courageous and afraid.
"These are human feelings. They're not attached to a particular gender."

In light of the recent debate concerning some librarians who are excluding the Newbery Medal-winning THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY from their school library collections because of the mere inclusion of an anatomical term -- dog's scrotum -- it can be expected that there is a similar group of librarians opposed to the inclusion of THE GUY BOOK in middle school collections. This, of course, puts those librarians' middle school patrons at risk. Considering that every year, in every corner of America, there are middle school students who become sexually active prior to high school, thus facing the possibility of their causing a pregnancy or contracting AIDS during their initial sexual explorations, librarian-imposed ignorance is surely a matter of malpractice that borders on the criminal.

It is hard to imagine a girl today experiencing her first period and having nobody willing to provide her information on why this new thing is happening to her body or, perhaps, suggesting that she wait until high school before obtaining accurate information from her school's library media center. For a boy to experience his first nocturnal emission without having either prior or subsequent information as to what is going on can be no less traumatic then was Brat's ignorance upon experiencing her first menstrual cycle in THE MIDWIFE'S APPRENTICE.

The original intent of having public education in America was to turn kids into good citizens. This is a book with information that unquestionably contributes to that goal. If Mavis Jukes' books for girls and guys are not in your middle school collections, they need to be. And to try and bury such important resources in the shelves, rather than booktalking them and displaying them is a serious mistake.

this is the most truthful manual ever written. a cool way to get inside a guys mind for the girls and a great book for advice for guys. when your done you can go back if you ever need help its sure to answer all your questions, and also has a great humour about it and derserves all4 stars i gave it.

This book is a life saver for single moms. I have two boys and many of the questions they have asked are in this book. Until I read this book, I didn't understand that walking around with an erection most of the time was normal. The "Guy Book" has also taught me about the changes that have occurred and about the changes that are still to come. Thanks to the "Guy Book" I don't think I'll get caught off guard with some questions and changes my boys are yet to experience. I appreciate that the author thought about including girls and some of their changes. A must read for any single female parent and a great book for boys experiencing puberty.

This is "THE BOOK" for Dads to review with their sons. The author successfully uses "car talk" to explain becoming a man. Clever chapter titles include: "Under the Hood: Parts," "The Ignition System: How It All works," "Road Hazards: STD," "Maintenance," etc. I got a kick out of discussing the old retro-car photos with my sons. The funny retro-pictures kept the topic from getting uncomfortable and gave us guys something else to talk about other than sex ... when things got a little too uncomfortable. My sons reread to certain often. Definitely buy ............................................. This book is guy-focused, uses guy-slang, and has guy-humor.

I bought this book as part of a three book set for my son's growing up library, including "The Teenage Guy's Survival Guide" by Daldry and "Boy's Guide to Becoming a Teen" by the AMA, (see my other reviews).

This book is by far the most detailed, and very in-depth book on the subject. I don't have any problem in saying this is the absolute best book on puberty and growing up for teen boys! Please keep in mind, I am a very open left wing liberal parent with total faith in my son's ability to make his own decisions about his sexuality. This book is definitely NOT for conservative parents that want to shield their boy from life and it's complicated areas! I handed it to my also very liberal boyfriend for his opinion, and he said "This book has EVERYTHING!" and looked a bit shocked. But he also said it was very thorough and said he liked the writing style, using the car analogy to draw the boy in and keep his interest.

I could list all of the sections and parts of this book out in this review... only if I had a entire month to write! Just let me suffice to say, if it exists, it's in this book (use the amazon see inside feature to view the index in the back of the book). This book doesn't glaze over ANYTHING, and I REALLY respect it for that! Nothing is taboo in this book, and the detail is amazing. I do not think it is appropiate for a first book, to introduce boys to puberty, but I think it's definitely a book all teen boys should have on hand as a resource once they have a general understanding of puberty and sex. This is borderline for pre-teens, and I think I will still give it to my son, who is almost 13 now, but I do not think he will read it, as it's very high reading level book, and he is reading at a lower level right now. I do think is book would be potentially overwhelming is attempted to be read front to back by anyone under the age of 14. However, that said, I think it should be on the bookshelf for all boys that have entered puberty, as a reference. Not for pre-teens, but required for any open and curious teenager!

I have a lot of respect for this author for wrting this book, which was sure to drum up controversy in it's scope and detail. It's a great book for teen boys though! I'd give it 6 stars if I could!

THE GUY BOOK: AN OWNER'S MANUAL manages to squeeze a lot into its reader-friendly 152 pages, even though a number of those pages are given over to campy, blue-toned photographs of American car culture ca 1945 - 1965. (Sometimes, though, the allegory is a little oblique, as when an image of 1959 Cadillac tailfins is background for a list of adolescent changes triggered by testosterone.) Although considered a "Young Adult" reading choice, the book actually devotes itself to puberty and most of adolescence. It will appeal mainly to boys ages 12 or 13 to about 16 or 17, from the onset of puberty to the nuances of shaving, dating, dealing with abusive situations, and introductory clothes-buying.

Compared to a somewhat similar book, THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION BOY'S GUIDE TO BECOMING A TEEN, THE GUY BOOK does not assume that young men live in comfortable circumstances; for example, it tells guys who don't have access to a washer/dryer how to wash out their socks and underwear in the bathroom. THE GUY BOOK did draw some disdain from a few conservative critics and parents for its brief mention (but non-endorsement) of group masturbation, and its even-handed treatment of homosexuality, which some considered pushing an agenda. But precisely because THE GUY BOOK broaches topics that the AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION BOY'S GUIDE does not, it extends the age boundaries of its usefulness and in my opinion is superior to the A.M.A. book. I do not know how today's teens respond to the sharp and campy visual correlatives of body changes and car repairs; perhaps they are used to that sort of irony. Nonetheless, I can think of few boys who would not respond well to THE GUY BOOK's handy information and engaging prose style.

There ought to be a law--anyone who plans to be a parent of a male child should be required to obtain at least one copy of this amazingly excellent book, to have at the ready at all times for this most vital part of their son's education. The book is tops. It would have made a huge positive difference in the lives of so very many guys I knew growing up. I truly envy any young man who has a parent or parents intelligent enough to realize the immense value of this work.

I did a fair amount of research and purchased two books that I hoped would be appropriate to give to my son sometime after he turns 12. After reading the first book (which I have reviewed elsewhere) I was very disapointed and discouraged. When I read the next book, though, the book by Mavis Jukes (who I did not even realize is a woman until my wife point that out to me later), I was quite pleased. I read this book cover to cover (as should you before you give it to a child) and found it to be spot on with regard to all the topics important to me. You will find an intellegent discussion of STD, sex, girls, dating, etc... The book is well written, accurate, factual, informative, and (I think) fun for boys. I learned stuff, too! I am recommending it to all my friends with similarly aged boys.

My son, 16, is shy about asking questions about sexual matters. This little book gives answers to those and others he might have. It is written in a quaint, kind of retro style. I would recommend it for any parent who wants to "have the talk", but doesn't know where to start.