High school senior Lacey Burke was fortunate enough to grow up with a mother who didn’t shy away from talking about sex and everything that goes along with it. However, that’s not the case for most of her peers at her high school, and to make it even worse, her school teaches an abstinence-only curriculum. Any talk of safe or protected sex is expressly forbidden and is deemed punishable by school administration.

Lacey and her best friends Evita and Theo see that there is a need for real sex education in their school, so they devise a plan to secretly distribute literature, condoms, pregnancy tests, and other sexual health items to their classmates. They even implement a system that allows their classmates to have open, honest conversations about sex. Lacey is excited to see that her peers are asking questions about their sexual health and are taking measures to protect themselves sexually now that contraceptive is readily available. But what will happen to Lacey, Evita, and Theo if they are caught?

Being discovered by school administration is not Lacey’s only worry. She is a self-proclaimed music geek who loves to compose and play music with Evita and Theo. In fact, they all have plans to attend the same college in Boston and continue to make music there. Except Lacey is really starting to lean towards a nursing degree, something that she has a natural gift and passion for. The only problem is that it would put her at a school two hours from her friends. To make things even more complicated, Lacey, who has never even been kissed, believes she is starting to develop feelings for Theo. Will she be able to move things from the friend zone to the relationship zone without any issues ... and does she even want to?

Olivia Hinebaugh’s The Birds, the Bees, and You and Me is a vital read for any young person wanting to learn more about sexual health and protection, consent, and sexuality. This book is everything your parents never told you. With frank, honest discussions about what it means to be a teen exploring one’s sexuality as well as the myriad of options and choices a person has to protect themselves, this novel provides good, solid sexual information to teenage readers who may otherwise not know where to look.

While this novel really does an excellent job of making sex an acceptable thing to talk and inquire about, the book does come across as trying too hard to push its message. Some chapters of the novel read much like a PSA, and characters speak as if they are actors in some cheesy sexual education video as opposed to being real, live teenagers. The information is good, but the delivery is often not. The novel’s main character, Lacey, has never kissed anyone, much less had sex, but she is the sole source of sexual wisdom at her high school. Readers are supposed to believe and accept that her infinite wealth of knowledge comes from everything that her progressive mother has taught her. Lacey continuously provides unbiased, non-judgmental sexual advice to her classmates, all while balancing an internship as a doula and playing gigs with her band ... and it is just not realistic. Teenagers may eat it up, however, and wish they had someone like Lacey in their life. The only problem is that the Laceys of the world are a unicorn ... they don’t exist.

The Birds, the Bees, and You and Me will be cherished by teenagers seeking a safe space to explore and learn about sex. It provides an important message about loving and protecting your body, as well as opening the lines of communication when it comes to sexual health.

The Birds, The Bees, and You and Me is an important Young Adult and Contemporary book for young adults. I wish I had a book like this when I was younger because you get to know so much about friendship, love and everything you need to know about safe sex.

The Birds, The Bees, and You and Me is such a good book because it gives such a positive message, you should not be ashamed about wanting to experiment with your body or with the one you love. This book also shows how important friendship is and that’s something I really like about this book.

I was planning on giving this book 4 stars because the characters got a bit on my nerves sometimes but I decided to give The Birds, The Bees, and You and Me 5 stars because of its message. I love that this book is sex positive and also informative.

I highly recommend this book to every young adult (or just everyone in general) because you can learn from this book, and the story in general is amazing!

This book is a bunch of different things. It's a story of friendship and first love, as well as a tale of taking a stand and coming-of-age, and I pretty much loved it all.

Lacey followed the rules and tried to fly under the radar. She was known to accept the circumstances and go with the flow, but she was willing to fight for the right to a comprehensive sexual health education for her peers.

I am big believer in knowledge as power, and loved that Lacey was so passionate about educating herself and others on a topic, which people often shied away from. She was raised to embrace her body and sexuality and to explore it in healthy ways, and though she had zero experience, she was very knowledgable in matters of sexual and reproductive health. I liked that there was a lot of good information in the book regarding STIs and protection, but the emotional side of sex and consent were also addressed. So, applause for that.

Aside from this book being very sex-positive, it was also about Lacey navigating her friendship, her feelings, and her future. Her reactions to all the changes happening in her life were very authentic, and though she stumbled a little, Lacey made good choices for herself.

Loved these things:
BFFs - This friendship was not without its complications, but they were an awesome group, and they literally made beautiful music together.
Present adults - Both Lacey and Evita had fabulous and supportive moms. It was easy to see why they loved and admired them so much.
An adorable romance - This was a little messy for me, but I still couldn't help but get onboard with it. They were good together, and you know, I love soft boys.
Music, lots and lots of music.

Overall: A fun and bold story, which teen me would have welcomed with open arms.

The Birds, the Bees, and You and Me was such an unexpected read in the best possible way. It highlighted how little open discussion there is about sex, and therefore, how little education. It might not always be an easy topic to discuss (whether parents and their children, or educators and their students), but this story focused on sex positivity, showing that it’s not something that should not be ignored. Lacey Burke (a virgin) has an open relationship with her mother and in an often humorous and sometimes serious manner, began dispensing much needed information about sex to her fellow classmates, all while navigating her own complicated relationships with her friends.

I'm not sure if there's something in The Birds, The Bees, and You and Me that I didn't love. I adored Lacey's feminist mother, Lacey's passion for helping her fellow students, her best friend (and ace) Evita, and the friendship between Evita, Lacey, and Theo. I felt like The Birds, The Bees, and You and Me just called to me in different ways. Whether it was Evita's identity as ace, but not aro, or Lacey being pulled between nursing and being in their high school band, or even how supportive her family is. All parts of The Birds, The Bees, and You and Me had just enough drama, tension, high stakes, and sweetness.

There were just so many feminist quotes I want this book to have a billion quote prints. I have become recently obsessed with these, so I would love post cards or something to be made of these amazing gems like, " ". This book is like a love letter to feminism, consent, sexual education, and the idea that knowledge shouldn't be shamed, demonized, or stigmatized. When we all have more knowledge about our bodies and sex, we can be more thoughtful, respectful, and responsible people. Not only do I wish Lacey had been my friend in high school, it would have saved so much heartache, but I wish we had someone who would be as open, genuine, and honest about our sexual education.

OMG! AWESOME BOOK! Finally a sex positive YA book that discusses sex in a positive way without it being over the top. This book doesn't make you feel shamed or preached out and i'm utterly in shock at how brilliant it was done! This book is defn needed and focuses on so many other topic important to YA. Youth, Love, Friendship, Sex etc.. Defn and upcoming novel!

This was an inclusive sex-positive ya about a girl and her friends (one of whom is biroace) throwing a sexual education revolution because of their school's horrid abstinence-only sex ed, and it was absolutely wonderful. I want to throw this book at everyone. It's exactly the sort of book we need in 2019. This along with Immoral Code are raising my standards for contemporary books (acknowledge that asexual and/or aromantic people exist you cowards! Because even inclusive ones will often forget about us, or not use the word. Use the word allosexual. Use allocishet. Please and thank you) Highly recommend.

Not the right audience for this book, which was based upon the idea that a teenager would become a doula and this would be accepted in a hospital.

I realize I am probably not the target audience for a book about high school sex education, so I read it understanding that. I loved the concept of this book - it's all about teaching sex ed beyond just abstinence in high school health class. The truth is, kids need resources, adults they can talk to, and to not be scared to talk about safe sex, abstinence, etc. This book would be a great book for those teens who maybe don't have that person to talk to, but they still need a good resource (even though it's fiction). My only beef with the story is the messages felt a little too PSA and forced at times. The characters would be deep in dialog and then a PSA about safe sex would be thrown into the conversation. It got the messages they wanted to across, just not as naturally as I'd guess they happen in real life.

I also struggle with the concept of a 17 year old being trusted enough be so many peers that they turn to her for very specific sex ed advice in a school bathroom. Maybe that's realistic, but I'm not really convinced.

Anyway, like I said, I'm not the target audience as a 44 year old adult mom of 4, however it's a book I could have used back in my teen years for sure.

If only all parents could be as open and approachable as Lacey's...this thought kept running through my head as I read this one.
A teenage mom herself, she's determined to not have Lacey's life take the same path. So Lacey's always been raised in an open household where no issue is off limits. And that includes any and all things related to sex. So it's just natural that Lacey would become the "expert" at school for sex ed advice.
Except that Lacey's never even kissed anyone, let alone had sex. But when she sees her school pushing an abstinence-only policy, she's determined to take a stand. Even if that means trouble.
Unusual for sure, probably not everyone's cup of tea. And likely more than a few people will disagree with the author's stance on this issue. But I liked it soooo...

The Birds, The Bees, and You and Me is an important book for teens. It’s something I wish would have been out when I was that age. I could relate to Lacey Burke in a lot of ways.

Lacey is a high school student who notices something is wrong with her senior health class and goes to do something about it. Lacey is probably the last person who is qualified to answer questions about sex, being a virgin and all, but she has a very open mom who is a nurse and knows all there is to know about the birds and the bees. I loved Lacey and her mom. Their relationship was fantastic. My mom was a teen mom so growing up we were super close and had a similar relationship as Lacey and her mom. 



Lacey has two best friends, Theo and Evita. Things get a little complicated there, as well. Lacey has a lot going on with her feelings for Theo, the way it will effect Theo, and choosing what she wants to do with her life. Music is everything to her, but nursing is something she’s passionate about as well. Lacey and her friends, the music, the locker of sex information, it’s all great.

This story focused on friendship, was informative, and gave the teens an open dialogue with each other and the adults in the book. I really enjoyed this one.

This book was amazing! I dived in basically as soon as I got the ARC. The characters were amazing and I loved the message it had to send. It also managed to talk about sex and the sex lives of the characters without being too explicit. The author did a good job of portraying the characters practicing safe sex habits while also leaving it open to less experienced readers. One of the main characters was asexual, which I really liked as well. I identify as ace, and I always love it when I discover and ace character in a book. YA, like most sections, is severely lacking in ace characters, but I hope books like this will change that!

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title. I will run a "real" review on my blog, www.charmstrongbooks.com to coincide with the release date of this book. However, I want you to know that I very much enjoyed this title and found the subject matter to be exceptionally important. I loved the no-holds-barred approach by the writer, as I think that's the type of information kids really need and want. Very nice job, and I will review this title and rate it 5-stars.

Cute story with good characters. As I read it, I kept thinking about the super sad state of our health and sex education curriculum in school today. This book addresses that issue with a fun character and a good story.