Are You There God, It's Me Margaret.
Common Sense Note
If it's been a while since you've taken a look at this one, you may want to preview before you share with your kid. There's a lot about the pains of growing up here (some of it fairly frank), so be prepared to answer some questions about puberty (though your preteen may be too embarrassed to ask you directly!) Also, please note that the main character struggles with her religion and the idea of God.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Katherine Olney
Judy Blume so perfectly captures the obsessions, fantasies, and colloquialisms of adolescence that her story and writing seem simple. Her style is a bone of contention for literate kids. "Looking back," says one fourteen-year-old, "I think it's really poorly written. Still, it really did remind me of my friends." Many adult critics think Blume's books are shallow too, but the loyalty of her readers is real. She discusses things that many preteen girls worry about, and they take comfort in hearing they are not alone.
Margaret's greatest strength--and education--comes from the fact that she faces her worries and grapples with them, even if they aren't solved. She discovers that the beautiful, early-maturing girl in her class doesn't really make out with all the boys, as the cruel rumor has it. In fact, her premature curvaceousness carries its own problems. And Margaret sees the depths that her friends will go to fit in when one of her club members lies that she's first to get her period. Margaret never settles on a religion, but she survives her dueling grandmothers, who each want her to join their respective faiths.
From The Book
Later that day Mr. Benedict reminded us of our individual projects again. ... I thought a lot about it, but I didn't know anything meaningful that I was willing to share with Mr. Benedict. I mean, I couldn't very well come up with a yearlong study about bras and what goes in them. Or my feelings toward Moose. Or about God.
Plot Summary:
Margaret Simon and her three best friends grapple with growing up in a book whose language perfectly reflects the cadence of their age. Embedded in the simple story are passions that are on the minds of most eleven- and twelve-year-old girls: boys, bras, bodily changes, relationships with authority figures, popularity, trust between friends, and more.
Related Books:
Girls who like Judy Blume will also like the more sophisticated writing in Lois Lowry's Anastasia Again and its sequels. When they are a bit older, they might want to read Can You Sue Your Parents for Malpractice? by Paula Danziger, which deals with the next stages of adolescent anxiety. Two other Blume books are Here's to You, Rachel Robinson and Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentMentions of Playboy, kissing, menstruation, bras, emerging sexuality. |
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Social BehaviorCharacters lie. |
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