Quick Book Review: The Other F-Word by Natasha Friend
Basic Synopsis: A teen conceived through IVF goes in search of answers about her past and finds herself examining what it means to be a family.
Karen’s Quick Thoughts: So this book was fun, heartwarming and enjoyable. It covered a topic I have never seen discussed in YA – kids conceived by donor sperm. 5 teens who are conceived via the same sperm donor track each other down and deal with their emotions as they try to figure out what family means to them.
Also, this is one of the few books that has a teen dealing realistically with severe food allergies. As the parent to a child with food allergies (though none are annaphallactic), I thought this did a good job of addressing the concerns and fears.
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This book does mention some statistics and science regarding the psychological challenges of teens who grow up knowing they were conceived via an anonymous sperm donor, so if you were interested more in the idea of teens conceived through anonymous sperm donors here are some interesting articles:
MTV teen meets 15 siblings from sperm-donor dad | New York Post
Teen offspring of anonymous sperm donor find each other
Teenager finds sperm donor dad on internet | Science | The Guardian
I Was Conceived Through a Sperm Bank | Teen Vogue
For more on teens and food allergies, see these TLT posts:
Take 5: YA Lit with Food Allergies
MakerSpace: Rethinking Food in Programming, Again? Yes, Again
Let’s Talk Teens, Food and Programming
Filed under: Book Reviews

About Karen Jensen, MLS
Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).
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