Pure

Title: Pure
Author: Terra Elan McVoy

Grade: B
Rating: Pg-13

Summary: (From Amazon.com) At 12, Tabitha and her friend Morgan put on their purity rings. Now the girls are 15, and neither has any intention of taking them off. Then another friend and ring wearer, Cara, confides she and her boyfriend have gone all the way, and all hell breaks loose. Morgan turns on Cara, and when Tabitha shows sympathy to Cara, Morgan drops her as well. First-time novelist McVoy takes on the hot topic of purity rings (hello, Jonas Brothers!) and examines it from many angles. Tabitha’s fast, funny, and very contemprary voice should be a hit with teens, but readers are privy to her every thought. In both narration and the occasionally meandering plot, this is a case where less would have been more. Still, McVoy is very successful at drawing characters kids will care about—even the parents are interesting. Anyone who has wondered about the ramifications of wearing a purity ring, both socially and religiously (and there’s much thoughtful writing about Christianity here), will be left with plenty to think about.

My thoughts: This book was nothing that I expected it to be. The purity ring concept was awesome but in some ways it felt like it was making the novel have a sense of immaturity. The girls in this book were 15 and 16, but I got the sense that they were still 12. Purity rings are a nice concept but the girls in the book took them too seriously. The rings were meant to be a promise between God and the girls but they let it get between them like middle school kids do. I believe it could have been better if there was a real aspect of sexuality instead of avoiding the subject like little kids. Overall a good book though.

Recommendation: I would recommend this novel to girls 13 though 16.

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