This is an important book, even over 20 years later.
Customer Rating: 
My mom bought this book for my brother and me at a church book sale when we were both grade school age, probably about 20 years ago. It covers every topic imaginable--school, dating, handicaps, juvenile justice, sex, drugs, religion--all in kids' own words. It was amazing for me, as a kid, to have this resource available. It really opened my eyes to what actually happens to kids in our country, good and bad. It helped me to realize that what I was experiencing was well within the norm, and answered some questions and addressed topics of interest/curiosity to kids that I have never seen addressed so well, before or since.
A word of warning to parents: Some of the topics and language in here are pretty heavy duty (e.g., the sections on incarcerated kids and incest), so some guidance is probably prudent. With this caveat in mind, this book would also be a great starting point for some of those tough discussions that parents (yes, and kids!) dread.
I would like to se an updated version for the current century! While much of the content is still timely, I think a section on youth violence (for example) would be a great addition to an update.
