V is for Virgin - Kelly Oram

5 Stars
ABOUT THE BOOK -
When Val Jensen gets dumped for her decision to stay a virgin until marriage, the nasty breakup goes viral on YouTube, making her the latest internet sensation. 


After days of ridicule from her peers, Val starts a school-wide campaign to rally support for her cause. She meant to make a statement, but she never dreamed the entire nation would get caught up in the controversy.

As if becoming nationally recognized as “Virgin Val” isn’t enough, Val’s already hectic life starts to spin wildly out of control when bad boy Kyle Hamilton, lead singer for the hit rock band Tralse, decides to take her abstinence as a personal challenge.

How can a girl stay true to herself when this year’s Sexiest Man Alive is doing everything in his power to win her over?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR -
Kelly Oram wrote her first novel at age fifteen—a fan fiction about her favorite music group, The Backstreet Boys, for which her family and friends still tease her. She’s obsessed with reading, talks way too much, and likes to eat frosting by the spoonful. She lives outside of Phoenix, Arizona with her husband and four children.  

MY REVIEW -
This is a book that every teenage girl should read... and every teenage boy! What a timely and important book to be coming out right now. Yes this book is about being a virgin and waiting till marriage to have sex, but it is about so much more. It is about having choices and having the right to say no. Every girl needs to know that she and she alone is in control of her own body and she is the one who decides what happens to it.

I am glad that Kelly chose not to put religion in the mix because then teens would be saying "Oh its just another "Christian" girl not wanting to have sex." Take religion out of it and it is just a very strong girl who knows what she wants, voices her opinion and sticks to her decision. 

If you are ready to have sex or not - it is your say and yours alone, and you do have the right to say no. There is so much pressure out there for young girls to have sex - not only from their boyfriends but their peers and friends.

My own daughter has chosen to stay a virgin till she marries, she is now 24. She is a very strong person and has no problem telling a guy that he is not getting it from her if that is what he is interested in! She now has a wonderful boyfriend who actually respects her for her decision . But it was not always this way. When she was still in high school she actually did have a boy break up with her because he was ready to have sex and she wasn't.  I was very proud that she stuck to her decision.

Oh my goodness, I guess I could go on and on about this. You can see how this book hit a nerve with me.

THE ALL-IN-ALL -
All in all this was a very well written, fun to read, sucked me in right away and kept my interest all the way. This book has so much teen appeal. I can really see teen girls loving this book. But beside that - this is also a very important book, one that needed writing! And one that teens need to be reading and paying attention to. If you have a teen daughter or granddaughter this would be a great book to get for them and maybe even talk about together.

Get it from B&N - HERE 
And from Amazon - HERE 

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I was very excited to get the chance to interview Kelly about herself and her new book -

Hi Kelly, thank you so much for being a part of my blog.
I am so excited to get to read your new book.


Please tell me what inspired you to write a book about staying a virgin till your married? 

It really wasn’t what you’d think. It started with my brother saying I should write a book about him where he was a “hot famous rock star who got all the chicks.” I laughed at him but decided to run with it. So, since Kyle already had everything I decided it would be fun to write about the one girl he couldn’t get. Then I needed a reason he couldn’t get that girl and Virgin Val was born. Pretty soon it became obvious that this was really Val’s story and she became the main character instead of Kyle.

In one of our conversations I shared with you that my own daughter (24 yrs. old) has decided to wait for marriage also. Why did you choose to wait, was it for religious reasons or just personal reasons? 

Ultimately I waited for marriage for religious reasons, but had plenty of personal reasons to make that decision as well. I chose to have Val wait for non-religious reasons because I wanted to keep the focus of this book away from anything that could sound like religious propaganda. I didn’t want V is for Virgin to be about the message or come across as preachy. When to become sexually active and why is a relevant issue for everyone, and I wanted the book to appeal to everyone no matter their religious beliefs or stance on waiting until marriage. Thanks to a certain obnoxious yet lovable rock star I believe I’ve succeeded.

What are some of your favorite YA authors? 

Ha ha ha, where do I begin??? Meg Cabot, Kelley Armstrong, John Green, Simone Elkeles, Stephanie Perkins, Cassandra Clare, Josephine Angelini, Cate Tiernan, Tamora Pierce, Jennifer L. Armentrout… the list could go on forever.

What books did you like to read as a teen, and which authors or stories influenced you as a teen? Believe it or not I hated reading as a teen and could probably count the number of books I’d read cover to cover in high school on one hand. (Tragic, I know.) The problem is, I hate the classics and that’s all anyone ever tried to get me to read as a teenager. So, I guess you could say that books like The Great Gatsby and Wuthering Heights had the most influence on me as a teen—they influenced me to never read. I didn’t discover my love for reading until I was in my twenties.

What made you want to start writing? 

It’s just something I’ve always done. (As far back as I can remember.) I was a writer long before I realized that’s what I was. I completed my first novel when I was 15, but never considered actually becoming a writer. It was always just a hobby until I had enough people tell me I should try to make a career out of it.

I see that you have two other books as well (Being Jamie Baker & Serial Hottie) are you going to continue to write, do you have an idea for a "next book"? 

Yes! I am actually going to be very busy for the next few years. My next book is my first (published) paranormal romance. It’s called Chameleon and is set to release June 25, 2013. It will be the first in a 4-book series. I am so excited to finally share my fantasy side with the world. Then I also have two more Jamie Baker novels coming up as well. Very exciting!

Where do you get your ideas from?  

Who knows? My brain is very over imaginative. I come up with ideas all the time. I find it very frustrating that I can’t ever write them all.

And on a less serious note - What do you do for fun? 

Read! I’m an addict. I average probably 2 to 3 books a week. I also love to sing, play golf and bowl.

Thank you so much Kelly for stopping!

And thank you Kathy at "I'm a reader no a writer" for hosting this book tour!

 You still have 4 days to enter to win a $30.00 gift card from Amazon or Paypal - HERE

Comments

  1. This does seem like it would be a very important book for teenagers, and I am wondering how my daughter would react if I gave it to her. We are pretty open about sexuality around here, and I always ask and answer questions, but I would like her to save herself for marriage. I think a lot of women wish they could have a do-over in that department!

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  2. Great review.
    Unlike the theme of the book, I didn't wait, lol! But I did wait until I was out of high school, so some points for me ;P

    Great interview, btw! I really enjoyed reading Kelly Oram's answers.

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  3. I'll have to look for this one

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