Doing It (Melvin Burgess novel)

Doing It is a 2004 young adult novel by award winning author Melvin Burgess. It is a story about the experiences of a group of English teenagers and their discovery of sex for the first time. It is told from the point of view of several young men who are learning about first love and first loss.

The plot revolves around a group of British teenagers: Dino, who is the most popular guy at school, and his two best friends, Ben and Jonathon. Dino really likes a beautiful girl named Jackie - the girl he sees as an equal, the most popular girl at school - but she is unwilling to give him what he wants. This gives Dino the chance to get it from other girls behind Jackie's back. Yet problems arise in Dino's family that causes him to realize sex may not be what he needs. Jonathon likes Deborah, but she is overweight; fearing condemnation from his friends and because of a disgusting looking bump on his penis, he fears showing his true feelings. Ben has been secretly seeing his teacher, Miss Young, the typical teenage fantasy. He used to love it, but now it overwhelms him. Ben tries to break it off in order to pursue a girl his own age but it causes big trouble for him, Miss Young and his new girlfriend.

The book was adapted as a TV series under the title Life As We Know It, which, although critically acclaimed, was cancelled.