Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret- Judy Blume

Purchase:  Amazon | Chapters

Published:  1970
Pages:  149
ISBN:  9780440404194
Genre:  YA, Classic

Started: Dec. 30, 2011
Finished: Dec. 30, 2011 (>1 day)

Where Found:  Xmas 2011 gift
Why Read:  A classic I missed reading in childhood.  Better late than never, right?

Summary:  A young girl entering puberty moves to a new city where she struggles to adapt to her change in surroundings and changes in herself.

Review:

So...I wondered about something that everyone who read this book years after its publication and initial controversy wondered: What exactly was controversial about this book that isn't a fact of life for young girls (always has, still is, and always will be)?  If this isn't an example of censorship going overboard, I don't know what is.

I loved reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great (a character I really connected to, being a klutzy tomboyish girl) years ago and was amazed how engaging Margaret was to me as an adult reader.  I will admit that I cried when Margaret gave her teacher the letter instead of her project and she thought she had failed.  It was a beautiful piece of the story.

It was also interesting to me how Margaret explores the concept of God as a figment and not as an omniscient figure (I could see how the censorship racket would jump on that one quick-like) and the discovery of alternative ideas of thinking and feeling as she becomes her own person and not an extension of her parents, while at the same time she doesn't feel like she has a toehold on how to go about doing this with the flexible (maybe too flexible) attitudes of her parents.

I would put this book into the hands of any girl age 11 or 12, especially when questions start coming about growth and development--it would make a great gift!

Rank:  (A)- Excellent, Highly Recommend