by Judy Blume
ages: 10+
First sentence: “Are you there God?”
Support your local independent bookstore, buy it there.
I read this one, as probably did most girls my age, when I was eleven years old. I have a vague memory of hiding it from my parents, some vague sense that they’d disapprove of this. I’m not sure if it was because there is God in the title, or because it was about things that a polite person just doesn’t talk about: periods, breasts, and growing up.
I’m not quite sure how I reacted to it. I wasn’t terribly interested in growing up (my mother dragged me kicking and screaming to buy my first bra), and so a whole book about girls obsessing about boys and breasts probably didn’t appeal to me. And I wasn’t exactly questioning my religion, either, so that part of the book probably bored me as well.
I don’t remember if M ever read it, but I know C did for a book group several months back (I skipped the book because I’d miss the discussion; it’s only fair that I got assigned this book to review now…), and she was put off by it. She though the girls were dumb and stupid for obsessing, and had to struggle to finish the book.
I’m not sure if that’s because of the type of person she is, or because of the way I’m raising her.
See: those subjects aren’t taboo in our house. Mostly because I have four daughters, they’re pretty common subjects. And I’d rather it be that way. I’d rather my girls come to me with their questions and problems, rather than trying to find solace and comfort in books. Because I do understand the need for this book (even today): it’s a place where tween girls can go to realize that they’re not alone, they really are normal in their questions and their concerns and their problems. And even if the book is a little dated (the sensibilities of the adults are really very early 1960s!), it’s still relevant.
Even if I still didn’t like it very much.
The Book Nut 
When I was young, I preferred Blume's “Just as Long as We're Together” to “Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.” It has a lot of similar themes, but the situations seemed to ring truer to me. I'd be curious to see if that one holds up at all.
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great post!
I have a vague memory of reading it around 11-ish too and from a similar point of view as you–though it would have been good I guess if I were interested in growing-up, etc, then because my mom didn't tell us much of anything about anything.
my daughter who was 11 this time last year read it for banned books week and struggled to get through it–for exactly the same reasons you described for C. I suggested it out of curiosity, to see if the book would hold up in different times and different home-culture (we talk about everything), but I have a lot of friends who are sentimental about the book and its almost a part of their daughters' rite of passage to read it, too.
~L (omphaloskepsis)
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I never read this as a kid, and read it first when I was about 30…it didn't appeal to me so much at that point. I liked it for the history (I read the version from the 70s, not the updated one), but otherwise, just meh.
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