The Virgin Diaries

by Kimberley A. Johnson, Ann Werner (Contributor), Ralph Faust (Designer)

WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO LOSE YOUR VIRGINITY?Seventy-two men and women answer that burning question.Hundreds of years of collective experience answer the questions every virgin has. THE VIRGIN DIARIES is a book about sex that really isn't about sex at all. Rather, it's about the feelings associated with that first wondering about it, worrying about it, the expectations, the surprises and the disappointments. Within these pages are the recollections of seventy-two people, young and old, gay and straight, who responded to the call for answers. This candid collection of stories provides a unique opportunity to be a fly on the wall. There is no commentary. The stories stand on their own, allowing the reader to form his or her own conclusions. Whether you are a virgin and desire to make an informed decision, a parent faced with "the talk" or are interested in reading detailed accounts of one of life's most personal experiences, THE VIRGIN DIARIES offers confidential insights and illustrates the commonalities we all our hopes, dreams, fears and insecurities. It shows that we are all human and therefore, all connected.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir

228 pages, Paperback

First published April 14, 2010

About the author

As an activist for women, I like to concentrate on stories and subjects supporting gender equality and strong female leads. Judy Blume is and was a tremendous influence for me and I wish to follow in her footsteps by creating books that are entertaining, informative and inspirational.


www.KimberleyAJohnson.com


Find me on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/3mkkmtu

My latest book, "Peyton's Choice" is a fiction novel about a seventeen-year-old girl who falls in love for the first time, has first-time sex and is faced with an unwanted pregnancy.
Read the description and sample chapters here: http://arkstories.com/peytons-choice/

AMERICAN WOMAN The Poll Dance: Women and Voting is available for purchase.
Read more about it on www.kimberleyajohnson.com
Excerpts: http://kimberleyajohnson.com/excerpts...

I'm also the author of The Virgin Diaries & Ain't No Sunshine: Men Reveal The Pain Of Heartbreak.

TVD
I interviewed seventy-two men and women on their "first time." I concentrated on the feelings more than the act.

ANS: Ain't No Sunshine - Men Reveal The Pain Of Heartbreak features thirty-eight men describing what it feels like to lose romantic love. I am excited!!!

I was born in Baltimore MD but grew up in Los Angeles CA. Because my father worked for ABC news, I had the opportunity to spend one school year living in Moscow, Russia when I was twelve.

For more than seven years, I played a Police Officer on Days Of Our lives.
I have also appeared on Mad About You, Diagnosis Murder and a Mercedes Benz commercial. The acting biz was an amazing experience but I ultimately decided I no longer wished to pursue it as a career. I then focused full time on sales. I've sold perfume, fine bone china, industrial chemicals....I have had an interesting journey!

In 2004, I started collecting stories for TVD. I would drop the project for a time and then start back up. My mother (Ann Werner) who writes fiction collaborated with me and together we created Ark Stories (arkstories.com). In 2010, we finally put out The Virgin Diaries and I found my true calling. I love making anthologies.

Reviews

[Jude · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://inbetweenwritingandreading.blo...

Interview with Kimberley A. Johnson HERE

I am a strong believer that Women and Men should be able to embrace their sexuality a 100% and that everything that goes with it shouldn’t be seen as a Taboo.

So when I saw this book I was like, seriously? A book for virgins? That is soo cool! Never in my life have I encountered a book for virgins! – maybe I’ve been living under a rock – and where I’m from Sex is a BIG No, No. and honestly, to this day I don’t know of many sources to learn about sex; the Kama Sutra? You kidding? If you’re 13 years old and read it you just end up traumatized – at least me and my buddies did xD - Porn – that was even worse than the Kama Sutra – Parents? NEVER!, School?... I’m actually going to skip this one. They practically just throw you out into the world without telling you how to survive it! So books like this one come down from heaven! They should force every single teenager to read books like this. And it is not something to be like “OMG! That’s disgusting!” or for pervs or anything. It’s a book that really opens your eyes, in a good way.

There were stories that left me thinking “Seriously? People still believe that?” others that had me laughing out loud, or saying “No Way!”, some others were just plain crazy O.o, and others where just sweet and almost perfect.

This books is a MUST read for Virgins as well as non-virgins. Virgins will find almost everything they need inside this book, come out with more knowledge and also feel more comfortable with themselves. And non-virgins will understand that, even if their first time wasn’t at all that great, there are worst, FAR more worst; And as far as sex goes, I seriously doubt you will ever understand it 100%. So just read it xD.

From boys hiding in Closets – No Kidding – to old school thinking and the perfect night. This book has almost any story you can imagine. From twelve year old not so virgins to 40 year old really virgins. 100% Guarantee to be useful. Whether you are a Virgin or Not. Even our dear Ben Franklin decided to stop by ;)

More Of My Reviews At In Between Writing and Reading

[Kimberley Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Virgin Diaries is a book about sex that really isn't about sex at all.

Seventy-two people, young and old, gay and straight, responded to the call for answers and those answers are in The Virgin Diaries. This candid collection of stories provides a unique opportunity to be a fly on the wall. There is no commentary. The stories stand on their own, allowing the reader to form his or her own conclusions. Whether you are a virgin and desire to make an informed decision or are a parent faced with "the talk", The Virgin Diaries offers confidential insights into one of life's most personal experiences.
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I have learned that people of all ages are interested in reading this book, more than I expected. The inital target audience was female virgins/teens but I am finding that men and boys are really enjoying it too. Women 45 and older seem to really resonate with the stories. That makes me feel really good.

[Carol Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book because I have a 16 year old daughter. I read it first and gave it to her to read. She acted embarrassed when I gave it to her but after she finished, she came to me and we talked about some of the stories. I think this is a great book for virgins because it deals with the emotional aspect of what one goes through with their first time.
It also helped her feel comfortable talking with me about sex. It actually made my job as a parent easier because it isn't easy talking to your teenaged daughter about sex.
Being that I am not a virgin, I still enjoyed reading the accounts. I am a psychology major. This book is unique in that it contains only the stories. The authors don't preach any one agenda. I think this is a great book to have on hand for when your teen reaches puberty. They always have questions and I don't want mine getting "answers" from the Internet, boys her age or her friends.
I also enjoyed the facts and quotes the authors included. I bought one for my sister who has twin 14 year old girls. Thumbs way up!

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book's purported audience consist of: virgins wanting to make an informed decision, parents faced with "the talk," and people interested in reading detailed accounts of one of life's most personal experiences. I fall definitively into the last category, and feel that the book is much, much more suited to the two former. The authors state that they placed ads online requesting stories about losing one's virginity. Those who answered were sent a questionnaire and either wrote an essay that answered all of them or had an essay formulated for them by the authors based on their responses. The questionnaire was very, very specific, and as such definitely flavored the personal accounts. For instance, one of the questions is "was he gentle...awkward...sweet?" Almost everyone then used all those words in the essay. It might have been better to ask a more open-ended question, leaving the essayists to choose their own adjectives. Also, people answered the questions pretty much in order. One about advice from friends, parents and religious figures is right in the middle, so people ended up interrupting their story to answer that, then went back to what they were saying, which completely lost the narrative thread. Another interruption of the narrative thread was the authors' choice to insert random quotations that they seem to have gotten by googling "quotes about sex and virginity". Most are attributed to websites such as quotedaddy.com and quotegarden.com. One even says Woody Allen (maybe) as though it was too much trouble to verify the source of their quote. That's just shoddy, and completely unnecessary. Also, they should lose the crappy clip-art. It just makes the book look unprofessional. Using a different generic clip art border at the end of every story and putting random pictures of couples embracing and things like ballet shoes when the person just barely mentions ballet in the story makes it look like someone's doing an overhead-projector presentation in 1997. If you don't have access to an illustrator so you can be consistent, just leave it out. However, these are really just nit-picky things that distracted me while I was reading. I think the book has a great concept and I feel that it's very important for both young people and parents to have real information like this available to them. You can't criticize the writing too much, because these people aren't writers. They're just folks willing to share their stories, and that is very much appreciated. I just wish the execution had been better. I feel slightly distressed about saying a lot of this because the author contacted me unsolicited and very kindly offered me a copy to review. However, I feel they'd prefer an honest review and this is really what I thought. They've obviously spent a lot of time and effort to bring necessary information to a needy population, and for that I applaud them. I will probably bring my copy over to the youth center I'm on the board of directors of, where it will definitely do some great good.

[Shelleyrae at Book'd Out · Rating 3 out of 5]

"This is usually not the kind of information you get from parents, religious figures or even friends."

When I was approached by the authors to read The Virgin Diaries I admit to being ambivalent about it. What made the decision for me is that while I have had the bird and bees talk with my teen daughter sometime ago we are now on the verge of needing to discuss the less mechanical aspects of sexuality. I do believe that its important to provide not only scientific but also emotional information for teens in these matters. The Virgin Diaries has no set agenda, it is not advocating or disapproving of sex but a factual collection of personal stories. The Virgin Diaries offers different perspectives to mine that I considered could be helpful to share with her, and I guess there was some idle curiosity of mine in play as well.
A random assortment of people responded to the authors anonymous survey request providing the 72 stories shared in the book. Despite the subject matter, the stories shared are not titillating, nor even very explicit, but are an honest, even awkward, exploration of the physical and emotional issues surrounding the 'loss' of virginity. It's interesting to read how widely people's experiences differ and how differently men and women consider the impact of the event. Some of the stories are amusing, others' are disturbing but all offer valuable insight that I may not have considered when approaching my daughter about the subject. I don't think I'd be comfortable handing the book over to her to read without supervision just yet. In general a teenager would benefit from access to an adult to discuss the issues that arise and answer questions.
Though I understand the authors reluctance to edit the stories to maintain integrity, it results in disjointed answers which can be a little awkward to read. I enjoyed the snippets of information the authors included though, with provocative statistics and quotes.
The Virgin Diaries is a surprising compilation of stories that has value as a tool for sexual educators, parents and interest for teens and the curious voyeur. Do you remember your first time?

[C.C. Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Virgin Diaries” is a realistic, unembellished book about first time sexual encounters. The anonymous interviews give clarity to an otherwise difficult subject to capture in casual conversation. Same gender first-time encounters are included. With the appropriate concern about what their adolescent kids are exposed to, I highly suggest this simple, easy-to-read book for parents, so they can decide how to approach this delicate subject for their kids. It makes sense by giving the opportunity for others gain insight into the importance of the first sexual encounter. Congratulations, Five Stars!

[Cindreia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really surprised when I read this book. I started reading expecting raunchy good times but left with a great emotional impact. This book isn't about people's first times, it's about who they are and how their experiences come about. The emotions in this book may have been surprising but they weren't disappointing.

[Bianca · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Originally posted on Pages Of Forbidden Love

I mainly read YA with other genres of fiction mixed in every once in a while but I rarely read non-fiction. It is the genre I read the least often. Usually it just doesn’t call to me but when Kimberley emailed me about reviewing this book I couldn’t say no. I am currently working of getting a degree in Human Development and this is a topic I am very interested. Not the topic of virginity specifically but sex and youth in general. The age they begin to become sexual active, the reason for it, contraceptive use, teen pregnancy, and their knowledge on the topic all together. Don’t even get me started on abstinence only education. I am thinking I could do a whole other post on that topic alone. I’m just going to say I think a lot of people should be more educated before they start becoming sexual active. Some people don’t really know exactly what they are getting themselves into, what they should expect, what could happen, etc. This book is all about people’s first times and answers some of these questions.

The Virgin Diaries wasn’t centered on one age group though. People of all ages where asked a set of questions that they wanted in an essay format. There were questions about how old they were now and when they lost their virginity, if they used protection, where it happened, how they felt about it, prior advice, etc. The answers were compiled to make this book. Nothing was extremely detailed and I don’t think anything was shared to make people too uncomfortable (there was a story or two that was definitely not okay but I will get to that).
What I Liked

Every story was different. There were so many different ages for when their first time was. There were stories from both straight and gay males and females. Although the majority of the stories were from straight men and women I was glad to see that not all of them were. It makes the book more open for anyone. The circumstances varied. The outcomes and how people felt were all different. There was a lot of variety and I think that is very important because it shows it isn’t the same for everyone. Yes, some things are the same for everyone but the experience as a whole will vary. The fact that one of the questions was about what kind of advice you would give someone was also cool because those people had already been through it. A lot of the advice was the same but I think it was good. The other thing I liked about the book was that it had quotes and statistics throughout it. They were interesting and some funny. There were even pictures. Probably not the kind of picture you are thinking about though. They were just little drawings of people and things (no nudity. The most intimate picture has to be two people hugging so don’t be concerned). One thing pretty much all the stories did have in common was the advice they had gotten from their parents or religious figures. I think this has a strong message and shows that parents should be a little more involved.
What I Didn’t Like

Okay, so it isn’t that I really didn’t like it and I completely understand why it was done this way but I think it is what keeps this book from being for a younger audience. One of the things stated in the introduction was “It is important to note that this was done informally. Neither one of us is a psychologist, a psychiatrist or a scientist. Because we don’t want the reader to view the accounts through the prism of our perception, we have declined to comment on any of the stories, with one exception.” I totally understand this, I do. The only problem (in my opinion) is that when dealing with a younger audience some (definitely not all. I know a lot of younger people that are more mature than some adults) people might be too naïve and immature to handle this book on their own. There were some stories where they had lost their virginity to someone much older than they were and in that scenario (depending on the state) it would have been illegal. Then there are some other things I am sure would bring up questions and they might not be sure about. For example, in a story or two the girl did want to stop but it happened anyway. I just thought it needed to be clear that she or he should be able to say no and stop whenever they decide. One story in particular was not okay but it did have a footnote that explained how disturbing and wrong the scenario was. It was just these things that make me think it the book shouldn’t just be given to anyone. Thought needs to be put into it and parent’s should be open and prepared for questions. They should definitely read beforehand also so they know what questions might come up or if there are none they can point out a specific thing they feel the other person should know more about.

Sorry, I didn’t expect to write such a long review but it just kind of happened. Overall, I think this was a wonderful idea. It did take me a long time to read but that was only because it is not the genre I am used to. I loved the variety and I think it is an important thing to talk about. I just don’t feel like the book can just be given to anyone without some prior planning.

[Katelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is going to be a little different because this is a book so unlike anything else that I have ever read before. My blog is a Young Adult book blog. Every now and then I may stumble into the “adult” world with an Adult/Young Adult crossover book but that doesn’t occur often. Something that happens even less often than that would be me testing the waters of educational books. I read the required material for my classes but I hardly go out looking for educational books for fun. However, when a review request came along for this book, I instantly said yes. This book is the real life, true accounts of many people’s first time experience with sex. If TV and media teaches us anything, it is that sex is a wonderful, passionate, experience that is highly enjoyable for both partners ESPECIALLY if it is their first time ever doing it. *Laughs at the craziness of that whole last statement* This book breaks through the image that Hollywood has imprinted in the minds of today’s teenagers. This book allows us to feel and understand exactly what people went through during their first sexual encounter. Now before you all get embarrassed (for yourself or for me) please let me explain that this book is in no way pornographic and it stays relatively clean considering the subject matter. The people who volunteered their stories were asked a series of questions. “What age were you during your first encounter?”, “Did you have any advice from parental or religious figures?”, and “Is there any advice you would give to virgins?”were a few of the many wonderful questions that were asked. Their answers to these questions were compiled and edited to create The Virgin Diaries.

Okay now that you know what this book is about and exactly how it is different than any other book I have read, I will try and review it to the best of my ability. Since these are peoples’ initial responses to questions they were asked and it is their own personal experiences that they so bravely shared with the general public, I will not be judging their individual stories. Instead, I will be talking about the importance of this book.

I come from a very open family. We say what is on our mind and us kids know that we can talk to our parents freely about anything including sex. I am very aware that this is not the case for many others and that fact alone is made even more prominent after reading this book. I read through SEVENTY-TWO stories that people shared. Out of those 72 people, how many of them do you think had an open relationship with their parent about sex? You may or may not be shocked by the answer but it is close to none. They often times didn’t get advice from parents or adult figures, no knowledge was shared on the topic, and birth control was not something that was ever talked about. I find this whole idea just absolutely ludicrous! How could parents allow their kids to be so ignorant on such important matters such as STD’s and pregnancy? For the people in this book that had no advice from adult figures, I am deeply saddened that they did not have a book like this available for them to utilize.

Some stories included in The Virgin Diaries have happy endings; some of them were awkward and embarrassing. Other stories broke my heart, while others made me squirm a bit. However, I still feel that this book could be a very important tool for parents to use when talking to their kids about sex. I am well aware that EVERYONE’S parenting style is different and I truly do not mean to offend any parents that are reading this but come on! You have to talk to your teenagers!!! You can’t just throw them a box of condoms, tell them that abstinence is best and then expect everything to turn out hunky-dory. Us teenagers are confused, interested, and curious by nature. We don’t always use our head and we sometimes need parental guidance whether we want to admit it or not. This is exactly why I feel that books like The Virgin Diaries are printed. It is so parents can use it to help ease them into what is sure to be the most awkward conversation of their life. Reading other people’s first-hand encounters allows you to think about what happens emotionally and physically. The questions that were asked and everyone’s responses allowed us to see the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of sex. While not all first time encounters are unbearable, we do learn that losing one’s virginity is not all satin bed sheets and roses and that is something a “birds and the bees” type of conversation just wont cover.

I know that this is a bit of an unconventional review but there was just no other way of putting it. This book and the subject it covers is just entirely too important to shove aside. Would I hand this book out to every random, young teen on the street? Heck no! Some people have the maturity level of a 5-year-old. Would I give this book to parents of teenagers? Yes. A million times yes. I would give it to them to read alone, with their child, or at least allow them to use it as a tool to start talking to their kids about sex.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is called The Virgin Diares and it was compiled and editied by Kimberly A. Johnson and Ann Werner. (I am aware that you can see this on the cover, but still.) I want to make a few things clear before I tell you my thoughts on this book. First is that this book is NOT a whole bunch of sex scenes thrown together into some inappropriate piece of literature. Second is that this book IS age appropriate for me. The title seems decieving, but once you find out what the book is really about, and why it was written, all should be well.


The Virgin Diaries is a bunch of stories - 72, to be exact - of many different people's first time having sex. Losing their virginity. Which would explain the title. But that's not all. This brings me back to my point where I said that this book was not "a whole bunch of sex scenes thrown together." The people telling their stories explain about their views on sex before and after, what it was like - emotionally as well as physically - what their relationships with the other people are like now, and they give advice to virgins about when THEY (the readers) have their first times.


This book is aimed toward virgins and teenagers. Mostly teenagers. Honestly, when I was sent a request to review this book, I was VERY hesitant to accept. But then as I looked more in to this book, I really began to like the concept. I'm actually really glad I chose to review this book. It is a great source of information for virgins, especially those who are very confused and curious about sex.


Let's all be honest - most parents don't address the topic of sex all that well with their children. The most advice a parent will give their child would be to use protection. They usually don't go into much more detail than that. I'm not saying that this is how it is for ALL parents and their children, just a majority as far as I can tell. The Virgin Diaries is a very good book for giving more information to virgins so that they aren't wholly unprepared when they think they're ready to give up their virginity. No, this book does not answer every single question anyone could ever ask about sex. I don't think it's possible to do that until you experience it for yourself. But it DOES give you a better idea of what to expect and how to tell when it's the right time for you.


Something I really liked about this book was how all the stories were written by the person who experienced what happened. And by this I mean that there were so many different voices behind all of the stories and I loved that. Instead of the authors of this book writing about what the people said their first times were like, the people who experienced it told their own stories. This way, we don't have one person telling us secondhand what it seemed to be like for someone else, we have the story directly from that person. A story told in their own words, in their own way.


Another thing that I liked about this book was the emotion in the stories. This probably is directly connected to the fact that these stories were written firsthand by the people who experienced them. I loved how the men and women described their emotions. Some of the stories were sad. Like, seriously, "awwww!" Others were funny. Others were just plain awkward. Some were sweet. Some were frustrating. But they were all REAL, and that is the most important part in my eyes.


A valuable thing - to me, anyway - about this book was the fact that there were stories from both men AND women. This means you get to read what it was like for both genders. I think this was beneficial because what girl doesn't ever wonder what's going on in a guy's head? Guys think girls are mysteries, but they can be just as confusing to us as we are to them. So I really liked reading about how the guys felt and what they thought. It was helpful insight into the way guys can think.


No, this book is not a thrill-ride fictional tale that is exciting to read. Of course it's not; it's non-fiction. Still, this book is immensely interesting because it gives you access to information that most people are too shy to ask for and too shy to share. I would DEFINITELY recommend this book to . . . well, anyone. This is the kind of book that is so informative that it could be nice for anyone to pick up and read. It will hold your attention because this topic is something that everyone is always curious about.


Okay, so that's all I have to say about this book. I STRONGLY suggest that you, as my wonderful blog reader, take a look at the book for yourself. On that note, The Virgin Diaries will be free - yes, FREE - for Kindle on April 26th. Yes, that is THIS THURSDAY. This is the perfect opportunity to see what I am such a strong advocate for today. You can get it for FREE - as in, no money necessary; this is usually a HUGE selling point for me - for Kindle. When? This Thursday. April 26th. What do I have to say about this? GET IT. You won't regret it. ;)

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Virgin Diaries is a compilation of essays submitted anonymously. The anonymity allowed the writers to share stories they normally might not have, including emotions they felt before, during, and after. The book is evenly divided between stories from women and stories from men. There are, of course, a few stories from men who had the attitude, "She was there, and I'm a guy. I wasn't going to say no," but many of them had an emotional bond with the women to whom they gave their virginity. It does go a bit against stereotype and may give you something to think about.

However, the real reason I think every parent needs to read this, then pass it to their kids to read is that several of the people in the book had sex for the first time at the age of 12. No, that's not backward. I said 12. Twelve. Do you know anyone who was emotionally ready to have sex at that age? And before you decide that your kids will never do that because they "know better" or they "don't think about sex", think back to when you were in school. I went to a small school and everyone from kindergarten to twelfth grade rode the same bus. (Well, there was more than one bus for the whole school, but the riders spanned all ages.) I heard about stuff before I even had a clue what it meant. Then I picked up my dad's copy of Stephen King's Carrie from an old box of books he had in storage. I was probably 9 or 10. Not really the best age to be reading Carrie, even though most of the abuse scenes were over my head. I didn't have a clue. I also remember being in 3rd or 4th grade and a boy and girl two classes younger than me were in the "hidey-hole" in the playset on the school playground during recess playing "show me yours and I'll show you mine". Part of it is a natural curiosity about sex (and anything else we don't understand) and part of it is the books, movies, music, TV shows all around us.

We can't pretend that our kids will never be curious about sex. They can either talk to us or they can talk to their peers, who likely don't know any more than they do. Or they can find someone else who does know to show them. And that usually doesn't end well.

These are not all, "I wish I hadn't done that" stories, so don't expect to be able to just hand it to your teen (or pre-teen) and say, "See? All these people wish they had waited." That's not the point of the book. This is a book you need to read first, then give your kids. So you can talk to each other. One thing that I found very interesting was that out of 72 responses, only a handful were still in a relationship with the person they first had sex with. Actually, I think it was three, but I could be wrong. All of those were people who had waited until their mid-to-late 20s before they had sex. Just something to consider.

About the book
Title: The Virgin Diaries
Authors: compiled and edited by Kimberley Johnson and Ann Werner
Publisher: CreateSpace
Release date: April 14, 2010
Pages: 228
Where I got the book: I received an ebook copy free from the author in exchange for an honest review.

See more reviews at http://www.livinglearninglovinglife.com

[Joni Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took sometime with this book because it's different than what I usually review and I wanted to be sure to give it the attention it deserves. Essentially there are so many different stories all about men and women describing how they lost their virginity. Not in extensively graphic detail, this is a book for teens to read after all. Also discussed are the emotions felt about the act. There was such a wide variety of stories in this book. One of a now 77 year old woman who lost her virginity at 15. That one really surprised me because when you consider life back then all you hear about is how conservative people were and how everyone waited until marriage. But that story proves that the want to have sex is completely natural no matter what day and age you live in.
Everyone acknowledged that they knew the risks associated and I am quite surprised at how many stories featured a lack of birth control. I was just waiting to read a story that resulted in a pregnancy and was a bit disappointed that there wasn't one. Well, one did but the girl in the story miscarried so there was no child involved. I would have liked to see at least one story that did involve a pregnancy just so that teens could see that it is possible.
Putting that aside though, I think this book is an asset for teens. Parents have a problem accepting that their child is growing up and I think teens and parents of teens should read this book. Teens so they can get advice and parents so they can face the facts: teens think about sex. Teens want to have sex. Some of the people in this book lost their virginity as early as 12 or 13. While it seems so young, and in truth it is, it still happens and parents need to realize that when their child is that age they will have those thoughts and instead of ignoring it and staying in denial they need to acknowledge it. I know when my daughter turns 13 in ten more years I plan on giving this book to her and I hope we are comfortable enough with each other to discuss what she reads in it.
I really cannot say enough that I think this book is wonderful. School libraries should all have a copy and it should be in every health class as well so that teens have access to it.
Thank you to Kimberley A. Johnson and Ann Werner for sending me a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

[Book Gremlin Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Virgin Diaries is a book of seventy-two anonymous stories compiled by the authors about people's (men, women, lesbian and gay.) first time.

I really did not know what to think going into this book either. I mean, yes, I read the blurb so I knew it would be sets of stories about people's first time. But I guess I thought it would be a lot more sexual and really, though it is about sex, there was a lot of emotion in the book that I did not expect.

And I have to say that I really liked this book. But I also like the point of the book, that it is there to give some insight to those who need it. As the stories made me see, sex is something that everyone seems very confused about. Not the act itself but of some parents not talking about it with their children, just leaving them with a 'don't do it' or feelings of guilt gained because certain religion says it is a sin.

The people who wrote the stories contained in this book, anonymous or not, had to be very brave individuals. The stories are very real not something that was made out to sound story like, there was too much emotion for it to be not real.

There were some stories that made me wince with sympathy. Others that I could not help but chuckle at and then ones that made me teary eyed with so many other emotions and at how sweet or bittersweet the were.

I would recommend this book to anyone. I think this is a book anyone could gain something from reading.

*I received an Ebook copy of this book for free to review from the author.

[Lauren Degroot · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an impoortant book! One that every virgin, especially female virgins should read. But even if you are not a virgin, it is interesting. I am studying psychology and The Virgin Diaries is an informal collection of stories describing the emotions associated with the first time. Though I am no longer a virgin, I wish I would have had this book when I was younger.
I really enjoyed the fact that the authors didn't preach anything and let me, the reader decide how to feel.
When I am a parent, I want my teen to read this. Most of the women in this book admit they did not have a favorable first time (not all). I found it really fascinating to read the male perspective as well.

I really enjoyed reading the stories from people who are 60 and up.
I think too many young people dive into sex without understanding anything! The girls pay the highest price.
If you like to read anything having to do with how other people see things, feel things, this book is a great and fun read. BTW, I got this on Kindle for $2.99! A GREAT price.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I read this one back in April I wasn't sure what I was expecting but I knew that it woul dbe interesting. I came to know about the book because I read Ann Werner's novel Dreams and Nightmares which I reviewed in February and so when this book came up for free on Kindle I was delighted to get a tweet from author Kimberley A. Johnson letting me know about it.

The book itself was great, it was different but I like how the stories or rather the recollections of the people interviewed were kept just as they were told. Plus, lets be honest the subject is an interesting one. I think what I liked most about the book was reading about how different peoples first times can be but in the end how universal some of the feelings afterwards are.

This isn't really much of a review but I did enjoy the book. I thought it was interesting and not like anything I've read so far. It's an interesting insight into the first times of people. I mean lets be honest generally we only pay attention to our own so his was unique in that aspect.

[Alexandria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very helpful read. I will admit I didn't read them all because after I while I just didn't feel like I needed to. I got the point the stories were trying to make. Everyone might take something different from these stories and I think that it seems very informative and helpful. Would recommend.

[Ima · Rating 4 out of 5]

No one ever speaks to you about *your first time* whether it's the wedding night or fumbling in a car back seat. It's supposed to be roses and fireworks, in my case it was thorns and a lot of smoke. I wished I had had this book Forty years ago.

[Shannon Baas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting book. it gives the viewpoints of 72 people on how they lost their virginity and what led up to it and happened afterwards. Very interesting reading.

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look on virginity. Very unique book.

[Chelsea Bloom · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's about time someone put out a book like this! Very interesting. Two thumbs up!

[Tams · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf

[Shellie Blevins · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me back in time. I wish I had this book to read when I was coming of age! I loved it!