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chemicals affect your brain just as much as any other organ, meaning your thoughts and behaviours are going to be MENTAL as you hit puberty. That’s because an enormous amount of these chemicals are required to kick-start the change.
    The adults in your life will eye-roll and refer to ‘mood swings’ because they have completely forgotten what it’s like to feel inspired and excited one second and then want to drown yourself in acid the next. It’s very individual and don’t let anyone tell you how you should feel. Just go with it. It’s probably just regular hormonal shifts that are a normal part of puberty. But if you think it might be more serious, get help from a trusted adult or doctor. (See ‘Helpful Numbers and Stuff’ at the back of the book.)
    At the same time, your body is getting you ready for having kids, so your brain might start having sexthoughts. WHOA THERE – you’re probably thinking – KIDS? I’M STILL A MERE CHILD MYSELF. Correct, but in the olden days you were dead by thirty so you’d have had kids pretty much now, it’s just that our bodies haven’t caught up to modern living. But you might start having these sexthoughts because your brain is being told to reproduce. So, you are programmed to think about sex. It’s totally normal. You might start noticing girls, you might start noticing boys and be even more confused – remember EITHER, or both, are awesome.
    FACE: Your face will get bigger, and some features such as your nose and ears may change a little, too. You’ll still look like you, just older. See ‘Skin’ and ‘To Beard or Not to Beard’ in chapter three for more.
    VOICE: Over time it will get deeper. Sadly, for many, the teen years are spent in a bizarre REMIX of ups and downs like Will.i.am gone mad on his vocoder. Sometimes it’s a dramatic overnight change, but more often than not you’ll realise at some point that your voice has become a little deeper.
    SHOULDERS AND CHEST: The shoulders, back and chest expand. Your armpits will get hairy. An amount of hair will also grow on your chest despite what topless pictures of famous stars will have you believe. The amount of hair varies greatly between men.
    Let’s also discuss the dreaded MOOBS or ‘manboobs’. During puberty you may gain weight and your chest is likely to expand. Like women, men’s chests come in lots of different shapes and sizes. Tell you what, press-ups are amazing for toning the pectoral muscles. As ever, though, if you are concerned with any part of your body, seek the advice of your doctor but remember everything happening to your body is 100% natural.
    BACK: Some men also get hairy backs. Perfectly natural, just never seen on waxed male models.
    TORSO, OR THE MIDDLE BIT: Most boys will put on a little weight. Just one of those things – usually the weight is distributed evenly so you hardly tell. It’s worth noting though, that a lot of research suggests puberty is the time when a lot of young people become highly INACTIVE when, in fact, you need to keep fit more than ever.

    GENITALS: Here’s the fun part. The penis and testicles will get bigger – sometimes noticeably, sometimes subtly. The change is pretty gradual. Hair will begin to grow over the scrotum or ‘ball-sack’ and around the penis. This is perhaps the most obvious and potentially alarming change. From an evolutionary perspective we grow pubic hair to alert potential mates to the fact we are of reproductive age. YOU DEFINITELY SHOULDN’T drop your pants in front of girls though. It would be VERY forward.
    Back to the ‘dropping of the balls’. I hate to burst the bubble, but your balls actually ‘dropped’ or, more accurately, descended from your lower abdomen just after you were born. This new ‘dropping’ actually refers to your balls getting bigger and hanging lower. As with all aspects of puberty, this change could be so subtle you might not even notice it happening.
    BUM: This will also probably get hairy –