Slut?

The author is a psychotherapist and the book is an attempt to explain why some girls go off the rails in their sexual behaviour. Jessica is 14, bright, fairly popular – and feels invisible unless she is getting male attention. Slut? charts her sad descent into sexual experimentation which is devoid of love. By the end of the novel she has learnt to value herself again and is coming to terms with the family situation which has provoked her crisis.

Doubtless the psychology underlying Hoffman’s writing is correct, and there are definitely teenagers who would benefit from this novel. Hoffman deserves credit for creating a book which teenagers will want to read and from which they can also learn. However, a less mature readership may choose it for its very explicit sexual material and ignore the responsible message.