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like and what suits you.
    But be warned: A well-dressed, confident you is likely to make you attractive to equally foxy onlookers.
THE PENULTIMATE WORD
    W hy is it that teenage boys’ bedrooms so often become gas chambers? People shouldn’t be able to smell you before they see you. GO EASY ON FRAGRANCE. That said, don’t forget the deodorant. It’s all about the balance. No one will want to snog you if you smell like bum OR like you’ve been attacked by a cologne-wielding shop assistant in a department store.
THE FINAL WORD
    T here is a word that we don’t teach you at school: FETISH. In this world there are people who go for big noses, jug ears, pot bellies, big bums, flat chests, scars, bald heads, back hair and third nipples. So whatever you look like, someone out there is frantically masturbating to pictures of someone who looks just like you. There’s someone for everyone, so stop worrying so much!

CHAPTER 4
PUBES AND SEX STUFF

 
     
PUBES AND SEX STUFF
    N ow we’ve talked about how you’re going to FEEL about puberty, let’s get cracking with the science part. This is the bit, by and large, that schools do quite well, but frankly some of you will have been taught this better than others.
    Puberty can hit at any time from about nine years old in early-starters to as late as sixteen for late-bloomers. Waiting for the changes to start is like waiting at home for a delivery – no matter how many times you ring the company hotline, they refuse to give you any indication of when the goods might rock up at your front door.
    Once the first boy in your class hits the ‘Big P’ it becomes an agonising waiting game during which time a demon voice will grow increasingly loud in your head suggesting that you might be the first biological freak in history to NEVER undergo puberty and therefore be trapped in a state of eternal childishness.
    PANIC NOT. Puberty WILL come and make a right old mess of your body. In fact, when it does arrive, although initially filled with relief, you might wish it never had.
    Puberty is notoriously unfair. Some boys will effortlessly glide from boy to man, while others are doomed to a phase best referred to as ‘Ron Weasley’. The good news is, that whatever it is, no one especially enjoys change. Take comfort that everyone is going through a change even if you all look different.
    Also bear in mind that ALL adult humans, male and female, have been through puberty. They mostly survived and if they didn’t the cause of death wasn’t puberty.
    I have found that funny-looking teenagers often become great looking men. A lot of the best looking guys in my school were fat and bald by the time they hit twenty-five while the fugly kids were starting to blossom. Being hot in school is no guarantee of being hot later in life.
    What you look like as a teenager has very little bearing on what you will look like as an adult. If you don’t believe me, take a look at the About the Author page at the back of the book.
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    This is the thing with puberty: You never know what you’re going to get.
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    The difficult thing is you have to do puberty when you are at school, surrounded by lots of other people who are also going through puberty and this can be MISERABLE.
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    FACT:
    According to data from recent surveys, MOST bullying is centred around physical appearance. How shady is that?
    THINK:
    Before you open your spiteful mouth to make fun of what someone else looks like, just remember: tomorrow you could wake up with a body you hardly recognise. You’re all in this together, buddy.
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BODY PARTS
    I n this section, let’s look at which parts of your body are likely to undergo remodelling over your teen years.
STARTING AT THE TOP …
    BRAIN: We already mentioned that hormones affect your body in the last section, but this is HOW. They’re actually quite complicated. They are chemicals released by various glands that tell the rest of the cells in your body how to behave. These