Love Sex Education? Read these 10 books

Netflix’s Sex Education is the little show that swooped in and stole everybody’s heart, including mine. Following the misadventures of high school students Otis Milburn and Maeve Wiley as they start a sex therapy business in their high school, this show is the perfect combination of funny and heartfelt. Also, Gillian Anderson is in it playing a sex therapist, with the greatest hair and wardrobe combination you’ll find this side of Daisy Edgar Jones in Normal People.

Since season 3 of the hit show was released last Friday, I’m betting that a lot of people might just have binged the whole lot over the weekend. If so, you might be looking for something to fill the Sex Education gap in your life. Without further ado, here are 10 young adult and non-fiction books that are perfect for fans of the show! Read on …

Sex Education: The Road Trip

by Katy Birchall

The only official Sex Education novel! Maeve gets an unexpected call from her brother Sean. It’s no surprise to her that he is in trouble again. But she’s the only family he’s got, so she must saddle up and ride to the rescue. Or at least, scrounge a lift from Aimee and drive there … Otis and Eric insist they can help, and Maeve’s mission becomes a summer holiday road trip.

Buy it here

Perfect on Paper

by Sophie Gonzales

Darcy Phillips:

Can give you the solution to any of your relationship woes – for a fee.
Uses her power for good. Most of the time.
Really cannot stand the new Australian jock at school, Alexander Brougham.
Has maybe not the best judgement when it comes to her best friend, Brooke … who is in love with someone else.

Does not appreciate being blackmailed.

But when Brougham catches Darcy in the act of collecting letters from locker 89 – out of which she’s been running her questionably legal, anonymous relationship advice service – that’s exactly what happens. In exchange for keeping her secret, Darcy begrudgingly agrees to become his personal dating coach. The goal? To help him win his ex-girlfriend back.

Buy it here

Girls in Boys’ Cars

by Felicity Castagna

Rosa was never really trying to hurt anyone, no matter what they said in court. But she’s ended up in juvenile jail anyway, living her life through books and wondering why her best mate Asheeka disappeared.

A page-turning novel about a complicated friendship; a road trip through NSW in a stolen car; the stories that define us; and two funny, sharp, adventurous young women who refuse to be held back any longer.

Buy it here

Unpregnant

by Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan

Veronica is top of her class – and somehow she’s found herself gazing in disbelief at a positive pregnancy test. Even worse, her ex-best friend and the high school’s legendary malcontent, Bailey, is the only one there to help. In this warm and darkly funny road trip story, Veronica and Bailey drive a thousand miles to an out-of-state abortion clinic – rediscovering their friendship in the process.

Buy it here

Not My Problem

by Ciara Smyth

When Aideen agrees to help ambitious class swot Maebh Kowalska deal with her crazy workload, she doesn’t expect to end up reluctantly pushing Maebh down the stairs. With this, Aideen becomes the school ‘fixer’: any problem a student has, Aideen will sort it out, from stealing confiscated mobiles to breaking into parties. All she asks for is a favour in return. But Aideen’s own life is a mess – her mam’s drinking again, her BFF Holly is avoiding her and she’s skipping school. Spending more time with the uptight (but annoyingly cute) Maebh and chatterbox Kavi, Aideen starts to wonder: can every problem be solved?

Buy it here

Margot Mertz Takes it Down

by Carrie McCrossen and Ian McWethy

For the right price, Margot Mertz will go to the ends of the internet to remove your virtual skeletons or embarrassing DMs. At least that’s what it says on her business card. Margot founded a now notorious company that helps students, teachers, even a local weatherman, to discreetly clean up their digital shame. And since her parents lost her college fund, Margot is happy to work for anyone … if they can pay, she can clean.

But when a fellow student hires her to take down some leaked nudes, Margot discovers a secret revenge porn site featuring Roosevelt High girls. And hell hath no fury like Margot when she sees girls’ bodies being shared without their consent.

Buy it here

Firsts

by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn

Seventeen-year-old Mercedes Ayres has an open-door policy when it comes to her bedroom, but only if the guy fulfills a specific criteria: he has to be a virgin. Mercedes lets the boys get their awkward fumbling first times over with, and all she asks in return is that they give their girlfriends the perfect first time—the kind Mercedes never had herself.

When Mercedes’ perfect system falls apart, she has to find a way to salvage her own reputation—and figure out where her heart really belongs in the process. Funny, smart, and true-to-life, Firsts is a one-of-a-kind young adult novel about growing up.

Buy it here

Jack Of Hearts (And Other Parts)

by L. C. Rosen

Jack Rothman is seventeen. A solid student with a talent for art, he likes partying, makeup and boys. Sometimes all at the same time. His active, unashamed sex life makes him a red hot topic for the high school gossip machine, but Jack doesn’t really care too much about what the crowd is saying about him. His mantra is – ‘It could be worse.’ And then it is. When Jack starts writing a teen sex advice column for his best friend’s website, he begins to receive creepy and threatening love letters..

Buy it here

Sex Education: A Guide To Life

by Sex Education and Fionna Fernades (Illustrator)

Questioning your body? Not sure about how you feel? Or worried if that thing is normal? Unlikely educator Otis Milburn and his beloved friends are back in this frank, feminist and positive guide to life. Covering everything from understanding your anatomy, feeling confident about how you look and understanding how you feel, to consent, sexuality and the minefield that is modern love – this guide answers all the questions you’re too scared to ask, in a language you understand.

This book has been checked by experts including doctors, sex therapists and sensitivity readers. Recommended age 14+

Buy it here

The Sex Ed You Never Had

by Chantelle Otten

From award-winning psychosexologist Chantelle Otten comes the well-overdue, inclusive and meticulous guide to all things sex, bodies and relationships. For too long, talking about our anatomies and our experiences has been taboo. Normal functions have been deemed embarrassing and even shameful, impacting people’s mental and physical health. In this amazing and comprehensive guide, filled with accurate facts and helpful illustrations, Chantelle refuses to leave these conversations languishing on the fringes any longer.

Buy it here

—Sex Education is streaming now on Netflix.

No comments Share:

About the Contributor

Olivia Fricot

Olivia Fricot (she/her) is Booktopia's Senior Content Producer and editor of the Booktopian blog. She has too many plants and not enough bookshelves, and you can usually find her reading, baking, or talking to said plants. She is pro-Oxford comma.

Follow Olivia: Twitter