The Virgin Diaries     
                 Reviews                   
                  What's your story?

Everyone has a story about their first time, good or bad, and this book lets us into that world of personal stories that 72 men and women share. Being a female, I found the stories and feelings of the men most interesting. It sheds a light on the fact that they have some of the same emotions and feelings as we woman do on sex. It was a great read and I love the way the book is compiled, and the illustrations are fun too (not sexually graphic pics or anything). I do hope the authors carry on with reality based books, because this was an enjoyable, and knowledgeable, read. 

Hayley - Hanging Off The Wire Blog

See full review:

http://hangingoffthewire.blogspot.com/2011/03/virgin-diaries.html


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...This book can be a huge help if you are looking for a way to “talk” to your teen! All Momma’s have to have the “talk” eventually! If you are having a hard time this book could help for sure!  The first time is special – be sure they know that!

Be sure to get your book Today!!

Kimberley Johnson and Ann Werner did a great job of bringing the stories together.  This Momma recommends this book!!

By Traci Davis – Author of The Momma Guide!...

Click here to read the full review


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The Virgin Diaries by Kimberley Johnson and Ann Werner, is an anthology of firsts. The mother-and-daughter writing team questioned 72 people about losing their virginity. Inquiries range from the obvious "How old were you?" to the more complex and open ended "Why did you choose to lose it at that time with that person?" The responses, compiled into a series of essays, run the gamut from heartwarming and humorous to tender and romantic to painfully awkward. Interspersed with personal accounts are quotes like "Credibility is like virginity. Once you lose it, you can never get it back." as well as a few statistics on subjects like masturbation and faking orgasms. 

A.D.  The North Bay Bohemian  10/20/10


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Surrendering ones virginity is nothing less than a rite of passage, comparable to war or facing death. This book ranks among the most enlightening books ever written on this subject and left me with a new found spiritual dignity. Listening to the narrative is like listening to someone telling you a story in a private place. The story fashions all of the contributors experiences into a cogent weave, resisting the temptation to overpower the narrative with any judgmental insight. The fundamental aesthetic quality of this narrative is that it is internally sufficient, and like Haiku subtlety profound. I feel the book is invaluable to anyone on either side of the virginity threshold.

Bill McDonald


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They say that knowledge is power, so think about how much power we would have had to save our virginity for the right person if we had had more knowledge about sex when we were teens. That's what Johnson and Werner did when they compiled 72 real-life stories into the amazing book The Virgin Diaries. Not only will you connect with so many of the testimonies compiled in this book, but you will laugh, cry, and become alarmed at what you read. More importantly, you will find yourself marking the pages you'll want your teen to read when the time is right. This book is a must-read for every parent and could save your virgin teen from making the mistake that we made.                        
Bill Corbett, author of Love, Limits, & Lessons: A Parent's Guide to Raising Cooperative Kids  amazon.com
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As a a teenager, you are faced with pressure and choices, especially when it comes to having sex for the first time. This book is a compilation of answers to the question "What was your first time like?" (That every teen wants to ask, but is afraid to). Hopefully, the various experiences will bring insight to help them determine what their own values are and take a stand for how and when they want their first sexual experience.

The Virgin Diaries is voyeurism at its most intimate best. With every story, I found myself shocked, laughing, crying, envious, etc. Kudos to the authors for such a great compilation! When is Virgin Diaries 2 coming out?
yocoach.ca  amazon.com
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In a world full of made up "reality shows" and "celebrity sex scandals" it is truly refreshing to peek inside the lives of the common man and woman and into a world that is both hidden and flaunted, taboo and accepted in modern society. I think we forget that sex is a human act and experienced by mostly everyone in their lives. And that it's supposed to be about intimacy and closeness and love (and so often is not) Everyone has different likes and dislikes, ideas and opinions but what does bind us all together is our first experience into this wondrous and often terrifying new world.

Curiosity burned in me from page one. Would I find an experience like mine? Was mine normal or typical? Would I find worse experiences to make mine seem not as bad? Would I be envious of those that had beautiful experiences as I wanted mine to be? What about older people? What about men? And gay people? It's a story everyone has but not everyone is willing to share until now. This book leaves no one out, giving a great cross representation of all walks of life, age, orientation and gender. You run the gamut of emotions with these people as well. You fear for some, laugh with others, feel awkward and shy for a bunch more and some even make you feel a bit sexy. In the end you feel as if you know a lot of these honest souls and even care about them as they start off their adventures as a sexual beings. Their stories affect you personally. You think about them long after you are done reading. And isn't that what makes a great book?

PS: Both my 17 year old daughter and 20 year old son are vying for next read!
Denise LeDent   amazon.com
Reading your book has been a real eye opening experience and I GUESS I thank you for that!

I hadn't even thought about how disappointing ones first sexual encounter had been for so many people for one reason or another. I was touched by the sadness of a few of those listed in your book and shared some of that with them. I was entertained by others and jealous of some!

I've decided that however that first experience goes, it colors ones opinion forever about oneself and the other person........ especially, if in fact you go and marry them, like I did. I've done my best to NOT rethink that time in my life, as it was far from perfect, not even close, and yet reading your book allowed me to go back over things and I can see now how that colored not just my sex life, but my life in general, and my feelings towards my husband and myself throughout our marriage in ways unrelated directly to sex.
 The biggest thing being that I kept a safe place just for me in my heart and soul and mind and never really became totally vulnerable. That saddens me that I missed out on that. So my advice would be....experience at least a few different people before you ever decide to marry anyone. Don't fall for that myth that you must be a virgin..........turns out most men can't tell the damn difference anyway, they just think they can!

You obviously worked hard on that book, and the information was really a service to those of us who are older now and are looking back, and to those who are young and curious about what might lie ahead. Thanks for a great read and it seemed to me that those who had responded to your original questionnaire did so with great sincerity. I was impressed also with how it was done in such a classy way. It really was informative. Of course I hope it does well and would recommend it. Rita Bakersfield

There are lots of books out there ready to "preach" about sex, teen sex, and losing it. "The Virgin Diaries" much like a good parent, listens and in listening and documenting (the stories of real people losing their virginity), "Diaries" gives us something that is a geniune slice of life and growing up in America. Much like life, the stories are alternately funny, sweet, moving and sometimes a little ..cold and wet on the rear end. In the end, the book is a time capsule of one the signature moments in the lives of some pretty interesting people (author Kimberley Johnson chose her interviewees from all walks off life - young, old, straight and gay and I'm pretty sure that would cover everyone). There's wisdom aplenty, and maybe it's just me but the biggest takeaway I got from "The Virgin Diaries" is the realization that once each one of us was young (or not so young), beautiful, romantic, daring, or shocking for at least one night in our lives. All of us on Earth either have a memory or WANT one. The Virgin Diaries is a document of that common bond.   Anthony Serri
No one ever forgets their "first time" and reading about all these different experiences makes for more compelling reading than I expected. Contributors are young and old, male and female, predominantly heterosexual, and the author(s) have done a fine job of editing to make the text consistent and readable throughout.

Especially valuable for teens looking for information about sex - real stories from real people - removing the myths and misconceptions. Many stories counsel to wait until it feels right with a partner with whom you feel comfortable.

Highly recommended; have never encountered a book like this! Would be a wonderful text for a junior high Sex Ed class with facilitated discussion... LDD Amazon.com
 
“What makes this book particularly interesting is that the anonymity allows the male contributors to unselfconsciously share their true feelings about how, when, and to whom they chose to lose their virginity. If the men in this book are any indication, there is a decent percentage of men who are in touch with their own feelings and generally care about their partner’s feelings as well. In this sense, the stories were not at all what I expected and a truly welcome surprise. A great read for people of all ages.” 
Rob Sullivan  Chicago


I recently bought a copy of The Virgin Diaries for a number of reasons:
First, the name made me curious enough to read the blurb about it at Amazon. Reading that made me recall my dad having to go out and get ever-so-slightly oiled at the local pub to tell me about the "birds and the bees" when I was sixteen- long after the horse had vacated the barn- to mix a metaphor.

By then I not only knew all about the theory and the mechanics- I had aspirations. The trouble was, I had nothing else to go on; no experience, and nobody I trusted to tell the truth without embellishments or fabrications. There was nobody in my circle more knowledgeable than me that I felt sufficiently comfortable asking. It is hard for a guy to admit sexual ignorance to his peers. (and I couldn't go out and get "oiled up" and ask my dad).

Today I find I am standing my dad's shoes,though my kids are several years younger than I was back then. I feel that they are about in the same position that I was when I was sixteen- though please God- they will wait a bit longer to actually have sex. So I bought the book basically as a prospective teaching aid. I figured that it would be worth it to save a little of everyone''s dignity and two tender young egos.

I am happy I did. Though it isn't perfect, it is a hell of a lot
better than I would have done on my own. It is truthful and
unvarnished without being coarse and brutal or clinical. And, it isn't so lofty and high minded that it sounds like propaganda. When you read the accounts you realize that they are not there because the subjects have agendas that they are promoting.
It is all about "this is what happened to me and what I would change about it if I could and what I learned from the experience."

Lastly, I found it to be an easy, pleasantly nostalgic read. It
only happens to you once for the first time, and it ought to be as nearly perfect as we are able to make it to be. No one ever forgets it- ever.
J.King Old Guy Amazon.com