Piatkus to publish book on sex and consent for teen boys

Piatkus has acquired a "trailblazing" book about sex and consent for teenage boys in wake of the #MeToo movement.

Entitled Respect: Everything a Guy Needs to Know About Sex, Love, and Consent, according to Little, Brown the book by Swedish sexual educator Inti Chavez Perez "lets guys know their desires are okay, and guides them to understand how to explore them in a respectful and consensual way".

With translation rights already sold in 13 territories, commissioning editor Anna Steadman acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Kaisa Palo at Ahlander Agency for publication in autumn 2019. North American rights have been sold to Patrick Nolan at Penguin Books, which will publish simultaneously.

Respect was first published in Sweden in 2010 with an updated edition released in May this year.

The book aims to talk to teens about sex in "a direct, no-frills, and hands-on way", educating them about their bodies, their pleasure, and their sexuality. Questions addressed include: How should sex feel? Is pornography okay? What do girls like? What do boys like? How do I protect myself, and how do I say no? How do I set boundaries for myself and others? How do I stand up to peer pressure?

Steadman said: "I’m delighted to have acquired this important, engaging and highly topical book for the Piatkus list. Sweden has long been a pioneering nation when it comes to sex education, and upon publication there, Respect was lauded as the modern definitive guide to sex and consent for boys. Inti Chavez Perez strikes the perfect tone – informative but fun, serious but still humorous, and he approaches the subject of consent, more relevant now than ever before, with such wisdom and sensitivity."

Perez added: "Guys around the globe are asking similar questions regarding love, sex and identity right now. Toxic masculine behaviour is being questioned everywhere, you can see it every day in the news. So many young men are full of questions and really longing to have this discussion about sex. What is masculine sexuality going to look like from now on? Consent is a key concept in that discussion. I look forward to engaging with more readers through the English translation of my book."