The Preteen's First Book About Love, Sex, and AIDS

Who will love me?Is sex the same as love?Who can I trust?

These are just some of the questions that preteens often ask—hard questions that parents do not always feel comfortable answering. Whether the topic is love, sex, pregnancy, AIDS, masturbation, dating, homosexuality, or sexual abuse, Dr. Michelle Harrison gives preteens the information that they need to make intelligent, responsible choices.

Dr. Harrison stresses that finding out what is best for oneself is the best way to grow up. She aims to help preteens believe in themselves and face the sometimes difficult choices presented to them in today's world of media influence, drugs, and sexually transmitted diseases. She speaks to preteens in their own language about what it means to be in love, to confront sexuality, and to act responsibly, hoping to set the preteen on the right path toward a loving and fulfilling adolescence and adulthood.

Sensitively illustrated by noted illustrator Lynn Beckstrom, The Preteen's First Book About Love, Sex, and AIDS is a book for parents to share with their children—a book that can bridge the gap between the best efforts of a parent and the peer pressure of the schoolyard.

Michelle Harrison, M.D., a psychiatrist and family physician, is the author of A Woman in Residence and Self-Help for Premenstrual Syndrome. Dr. Harrison is currently the Director of Medical Affairs for Johnson & Johnson Worldwide Absorbent Products and Materials Research. She also holds an appointment as Clinical Associate Professor of Family Medicine at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentristry of New Jersey.

Dr. Harrison is the mother of two daughters. This book began as a dialogue with her daughters when she could not find a book that said what she wanted to tell her own children.