But Melvin Burgess didn't write ''Doing It'' for me. He wrote it for my kids. So what I think doesn't matter anyway. Even so, I'll carry on telling you. From the dim and distant memories of my own salad days and from my observation of my sons and their friends and their girlfriends, I think ''Doing It'' has everything just perfect. Bravado and willy-waving from the boys. Girls who are a bit more in touch with the common sense warnings going on in their heads but whose hormones keep frustratingly winning the day. The clocking-up of experience that is both joyful and painful in equal measure.
It might well frighten a few of the parental horses but I think ''Doing It'' is fabulous. It's truthful, funny, even terrifying sometimes, but it has a heart the size of a plantplanet. And to my mind, the truth is always the best thing.
Highly recommended.