"Funny and wise . . . a captivating tale about self-love told through the eyes of an unforgettable heroine." --Essence
"Witty and deeply engaging . . . about ideas and the passions generated by revolution and romantic love." --Los Angeles Times
"Electrifying . . . Virgin Soul yields an engaging coming-of-age story, one that recalls a turbulent era in captivating prose." --San Jose Mercury News
"Juanita's prose immediately immerses the reader in the time and place of its lead character....The unique perspective she offers on a volatile period of American history gives the narrative immediacy and authenticity." --Publishers Weekly
"[With] rhythmic language and nervy dialog . . . this wild ride through the rise of the militant Black Panther Party highlights differing viewpoints within the civil rights movement of the Vietnam era. Fans of Bernice McFadden will enjoy discovering this new author." --Library Journal
"An intriguing look at coming-of-age in the 1960s." --Booklist
"Virgin Soul is first class awesome, every page a crackling hungry flame. This novel about a young studious woman immersed in the black revolutionary experience of 60's Berkeley has a freshness and bright ardor that is rare in this lazy climate of American fiction."--Joy Williams, author of State of Grace
"Hard to believe it's been almost fifty years since the formation of the Black Panthers. [Virgin Soul] captures that time's particular combination of violence and possibility, and the urgency of young people who invested everything in the possibility of change, even as grand rhetoric was undercut by very human failings." --Jean Thompson, author of The Humanity Project and The Year We Left Home
"Virgin Soul is Judy Juanita's exciting debut, a coming-of-age novel set in a time of peace, love and revolution....Though a work of historical fiction, Virgin Soul is an intimate work, heart-breaking and compulsively readable." --Evan Wright, author of Generation Kill
"Judy Juanita gives readers a very real look at that exciting and turbulent time through the eyes of her strong, questing protagonist. There are pages when the prose lifts into lyricism, so it should be no surprise that the author's writing has for years encompassed poetry as well as reporting." P.J. Grath, Books in Northport
"Set against the rollicking backdrop of San Francisco in the '60s, Virgin Soul tells the story of a young woman becoming involved with the Black Panthers as she sets out to discover herself amid one of the most politically charged times in American history. Recommended for: Those who want to fight the power, while understanding that education might be the most important weapon." Buzzfeed's 16 Books To Read If You Love San Francisco
