Live Right, Grow Right: It's the Only Body You've Got

"When you're a kid, you feel...immortal," states Alexandra ("Zan"), one of the two articulate, believable teenage hosts of this down-to-earth, practical primer on basic adolescent concerns. Understanding this feeling of indestructibility is key to why it's important to be proactive in communicating values and habits to developing children that will enable them to make right choices and have healthy young adult years. Damian, the other host, is also amiable and never cynical. Taking a sort of "big brother/sister" approach, the two discuss four basic categories of good health-nutrition, substance abuse, exercise & disease prevention, and mental health-using conversational language, pop quizzes, and testimonials from other older teenagers (which sometimes approach being maudlin, but overall are an effective addition). The production is solid-segues are smooth, important points and vocabulary are written out on-screen, and lots of related visuals are used to avoid overloading on "talking head" segments. The accompanying guide has several creative suggestions for follow-up. Definitely recommended. Aud: I, J. (E. Gieschen)