Virginity–it's a loaded word. If you give it away, you're called a slut. If you hang on to it, you're called a prude. Once it's lost, is something gone forever? In THE V-WORD seventeen authors ask to change the conversation around virginity, sex and sexuality by sharing their true stories of first-time sex. Exhilarating or disappointing, pursued or coerced, comical or beautiful, relished or regretted, these women share all, every intense emotion that swirls around the sexual experience. Ultimately, this book opens a vast world of possible experiences–sex within committed relationships and not, same-sex and opposite-sex couples, sex that was sought out and sex that involved some level of pressure. This broad array of stories (including copious amounts of resources for kids and parents), provide teens with a map to chart their own course through the steamy waters of sex. Contributors include: · Christa Desir (author of Other Broken Things, Fault Line, and Bleed Like Me) · Justina Ireland (author of Promise of Shadows and Vengeance Bound) · Laurel Isaac (contributor to Scarleteen: Sex Ed for the Real World website) · Carrie Mesrobian (author of Sex & Violence, a Morris Debut Award Finalist) · Erica Lorrain Scheidt (author of Uses for Boys, a 2014 PEN Center Literary Award finalist) · Jamia Wilson (staff writer for Rookie Magazine and executive direcotr of Women, Action, and the Media)