Girlology Hang-Ups, Hook-Ups, and Holding Out: Stuff You Need to Know About Your Body, Sex, & Dating »

Dr. Melisa Holmes (Greenville, SC) is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia and a graduate of the Medical College of Georgia as well as the mother of three kids, children to preteen daughters. As a faculty member at the Medical University of South Carolina, she was named among the Best Doctors in America. During her twelve years of clinical practice, she was director of the MUSC Teen Clinic and founder and director of the Sexual Assault Follow-up Evaluation (SAFE) clinic. As a nationally recognized advocate for adolescent health, she has served on the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology Committee on Adolescent Health Care, and the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. Holmes is a nationally recognized speaker on topics of adolescent gynecology, teen sexuality, interpersonal violence, and other issues in women's health.

Dr. Trish Hutchison (Greenville, SC) graduated cum laude from the College of Charleston and earned her MD at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). After completing her pediatrics internship and residency at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, Dr. Hutchison returned to Charleston, where she was in private practice with Charleston Pediatrics for ten years. She currently practices in the Adolescent Medicine Department at MUSC where she directs Girls2Women, a health center devoted to preteen and teen girls. She, too, has been named among the Best Doctors in America.

Girlology. It has exploded beyond just a word. Girlology is a culture that preteen and teen girls know and love and turn to for honest true-life advice on everything that matters most--friends, guys, body changes, dating, and sex. In Hang-Ups, Hook-Ups, and Holding Out, girls will follow the true stories of four girls and their choices-- good and bad . And they'll get answers to the questions teen girls are asking every day on the popular website www.girlology.com and in private sessions with Drs. Holmes and Hutchison, the co-creators of Girlology--questions like:

• What's up with this acne? Will it ever end?

• Is it ok to shave my hair down there?

• If I keep looking at other girls in the locker room, does that mean I'm gay?

• Am I the only girl who isn't having sex?

• Is oral sex really 'sex'?

• If I've only had oral sex, then I'm still a virgin, right?

• There's a guy at school who says he wants to hook up with me. What does he mean by 'hook up'?

Life can get complicated for girls today. With Hang-Ups, Hook-Ups, and Holding Out, it just got a lot easier.

VOYA

This follow up to Girlology (Health Communications, 2005/VOYA February 2005) candidly explores the complex concerns common to teenage girls. As the authors, both medical doctors, explain in an introductory note to parents, the topics addressed and questions posed come from teens in school and church programs, from medical appointments, and from their Girlology Web site. This book gives teens and their families accurate information that one hopes will improve communication and assist teens in their decision making. Each chapter begins with a true story, contains a section of questions from teens with answers from the doctors, and ends with a "think it through" part. Here different options and the consequences of each choice are outlined in freestyle graphs. The doctors cover a wide range of information, always careful to use a nonjudgmental and casual tone. A chapter called "Am I Normal?" address serious issues such as depression, cutting, and eating disorders alongside topics like acne and sweating. Another deals with gynecological concerns, with advice for girls on how to talk to their mothers about making a gynecologist's appointment, information on what goes on at this appointment, and why it is important to go. They also tackle questions and myths about periods and yeast infections. Other topics include drinking, drugs, birth control options, and sex. The book concludes with a section of references and resources for those looking for more information. With this book, teens who might be too embarrassed to talk to a parent will find honest answers along with the reassurance that their questions and curiosity are normal.