Reading Margaret for the First Time as an Adult

Somehow, I missed the memo as a preteen that I was supposed to read and identify Judy Blume's Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. I read some of her other books, but this one somehow slipped through the cracks. I saw Blume speak a few years ago at a festival and mentally put the YA novel on my wish list (for the record, it's the only YA book on there) but, once again, overlooked it. I finally picked it up this summer after grabbing her newest adult novel, In the Unlikely Event, and seeing other bloggers, like Rory, revisit this classic. So, I decided I'd read about twelve-year-old Margaret for the first time at thirty-one.



One thing that stood out to me the most was the lack of technology. I loved it! These kids had to work at finding out if someone liked them- they couldn't just jump on SnapChat. They had to use house phones and look people "in the book." They experienced boredom. They had to go outside and run in the sprinklers to cool off instead of streaming a movie on Netflix in the air conditioned indoors. Oh, and they use encyclopedias for school work (and to look up male anatomy, naturally). It's all so endearing and refreshing. 



Another thing that struck me was Margaret and her friends' extensive conversations about boobs and periods. Maybe it's just me and my total disgust with bodily functions, but I never ever remember talking about those sorts of topics with anyone when I was that age. It's probably a good things I have a son.



I did love how religion was handled in this book. Margaret's parents aren't practicing, since their parents had conflicting ideas about such topics before they married, yet she is still very interested in religion and embarks on a school project to invest her options. Honestly, after reading this I decided that everyone should wait until they're an adult to pick their religious path. So often people are Catholic or Methodist or whatever because that's how they were raised and haven't really thought about it for themselves. But anyway, I digress. 

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It was a super, super quick book that I read in snippets while keeping one eye on the kid. It was nice to see what all the fuss is about, but I'm guessing I'd feel a little more warm and fuzzy about the whole thing if there was a nostalgic factor for me, which there is not. I do think this is still a great book for the ten-twelve crowd, though! 

8 comments:

  1. I think I read it too young. I was in 4th grade, so 9, and I don't think we had our first sec Ed class until 5th grade, so a lot of it was over my head.

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  2. I somehow missed the memo about all of Judy Blume's books as a preteen. I've been wanting to give them a try as an adult though too -- especially since so many of them are frequently banned and challenged which always catches my interest. I bought a few and they are probably the perfect quick books to read for summer while keeping an eye on my own little guy.

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  3. I loved this book when I was younger. I really identified with Margaret, I think. I have been meaning to reread it!

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  4. I love that you read it now though. I laughed about your aversion to bodily functions. I didn't have friends who discussed boobs and periods til I was like 13, so Margaret was the stand-in friend for me.

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  5. I didn't read this one until I was an adult too, and I definitely think it would have resonated with me more if I read it when I was younger.

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  6. I missed the memo on this one too. Although, I feel like I did read it just because everyone says they've read it. I'll keep my eye out at the thrift store for a copy.

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  7. I totally want to read these...just because I never even HEARD of them when I was around the right age to read them, but I'm still super curious. x)
    Thanks for stopping by @ Paper Fury!

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  8. So I never discussed my boobs/period with any of my friends, despite being close. Then I found out that two of the friends in the group had been making bets on who had gotten it and who had not. Honestly?! Anyway, moral of the mini story is that some people really did care. I never wanted to get mine (I was 14 and considered SO OLD) and I still don't like it.

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