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Review

Meet Shelby Knox, a model of progressiveness and clear-minded thinking who persists in fighting the good fight in the small town of Lubbock, Texas. At 15, this aspiring opera singer – and conservative Baptist – became part of the Lubbock Youth Commission, a teen organization empowered by the Mayor. Alarmed by absurdly high STD rates amongst teenagers, and the clearly ineffective “abstinence only” approach to sex education, Shelby pushes for comprehensive and accurate sex education in public schools. But a local pastor, a weasely Commission peer, the Mayor’s office, and even her own Republican parents conspire to thwart Shelby’s agenda. Meanwhile, she aligns with a group of gay teens and becomes a staunch ally. Recorded over several years by filmmakers Marion Lipshutz and Rose Rosenblatt, Shelby’s transformation from typical teen to activist is astounding, emotional, funny (a mass youth assembly culminating in a virginity-until-marriage pledge is both bizarrely humorous and squirm-inducing), and inspiring.