Doing It
| Doing It | |
|---|---|
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First edition cover | |
| Author | Melvin Burgess |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Young adult novel |
| Publisher | Penguin Books |
Publication date | 6 May 2004 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 336 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-14-101803-8 (Paperback) |
| OCLC | 56455688 |
Doing It is a 2004 young adult novel by award winning author Melvin Burgess. It is a story about the experiences of a group of English teenagers and their discovery of sex for the first time. It is told from the point of view of the young males learning about first love and first loss.
Plot Summary
The plot revolves around a group of British teenagers, Dino, who is the most popular guy at school, and his two best friends, Ben and Jonathon. Dino really likes a beautiful girl named Jackie - the girl he sees as an equal, the most popular girl at school - but she won't give him what he wants. This gives Dino the chance to get it from other girls behind Jackie's back. Yet problems arise in Dino's family that causes him to realize sex may not be what he needs. Jonathon likes Deborah, but she's overweight; fearing condemnation from his friends and because of a disgusting looking bump on his penis, he fears showing his true feelings. Ben has been secretly seeing his teacher, Miss Young, the typical teenage fantasy. He used to love it, but now it overwhelms him. Ben tries to break it off in order to pursue a girl his own age but it causes big trouble for him, Miss Young and his new girlfriend.
Awards and Nominations
- Won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Fiction
- Named to the New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age list
TV Series Adaptation
The book was adapted as a TV series under the title Life As We Know It, which, although critically acclaimed, was cancelled.