Practically Still a Virgin

A gripping memoir recounting a fifteen-year-old adoptee's experience of rape and the pregnancy that changed her life. 

Adopted and raised during Alaska’s lawless 1970s oil-boom era, Monica grows up amid trauma and dysfunction. As a teen, she rebels into delinquency. When Monica is raped and becomes pregnant, her religious parents push her into giving up her baby, her only known blood relative for adoption. These events kick off a decades-long search for family and belonging. Thread by thread, she weaves together the truth of her identity, pulled by yearning for her daughter and the mother who gave her away.

Monica Hall headshot
MH handwritten initials signature

About the Author

Monica’s memoir, Practically Still a Virgin is based on her experience as a young girl who was born in Canada, adopted by American parents, and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. It was there where she spent the first sixteen years of her life and had many of the foundational experiences that drive her writing today. 

Monica’s essays have been published by Women Writers, Women’s Books and the Anchorage Press, and she is a member of a group for women writers. Her writing focuses on themes of identity, rebellion, self-doubt, and—most importantly—healing. She loves to write in the early morning hours when her world is quiet and her mind is open.

Monica lives in Northern California and loves spending time with her family, including the biological family she discovered in Canada and the daughter she was reunited with eighteen years after relinquishing her for adoption.

  • “A testament to the strength and tenacity of the human spirit . . . powerful, heartwarming, and absolutely inspiring!”

    —Mary Youngblood, Indigenous adoptee, two-time Grammy winner

  • “A gutsy story about overcoming loss and triumphing over pain. Monica Hall’s courageous, riveting story is ultimately about love.”

    —Kim Rich, author of Johnny’s Girl: A Daughter’s Memoir of Growing Up in Alaska’s Underworld 

  • “Sparkles with honesty, wit, and passion. We are with the author every step of the way as she  struggles to become her best self, and to understand and draw meaning from the unusual events of her life. This memoir is a powerful addition to the literature of adoption and reunion.”

    —Patricia Moffat, author of She Turned Her Head Away

Start a Book Club

If you’d like to read Practically Still a Virgin as your next book for your Book Club, I’d love to pop in as a guest! Contact me to set it up.