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

"A quick, fun read about a kid who's just trying to figure out how she fits into everything and every now and again, she asks God, for a little help. This brings back all the angst of being a Tween and though it was nostalgic, I'm glad I'm well past that part of my life."

4 Stars

Pros: It was definitely a reminder of what it's like to be a pre-teen, all the emotions, confusion and attempts to create an identity for yourself and figure out who you are.

Cons: I had to keep in mind that the MC, Margaret, was an eleven year old girl, so her reaction to everything, IE, everything was the end of the world, was to be expected though, it did get a bit tiresome.

Full Review

Margaret Ann Simon is an only child. She's used to her life in New York City. She visits with her Grandmother, almost every single day and she likes her life. Her parents decide to uproot everything and move to Farbrook, New Jersey and to Margaret, she just can't figure out why.

She doesn't know anyone. She doesn't know her school. She doesn't know if she'll be liked. Luckily, they've been in the neighborhood only a few days when she meets a neighbor, Nancy. Once the school year starts, she joins Nancy in her "secret club" the PTS (Pre-Teen Sensations.) It's Nancy, Margaret, Gretchen and Janie. And as the school years progresses, Margaret is glad to find that she has friends.

All through the novel, she has conversations with God, in her head. Her parents, whose marriage caused quite a falling out between their parents, are not religious and have not raised Margaret to believe in anything but she still talks to God. For the most part, these are short, simple requests, asking God for his help to have Margaret grow into herself, since puberty is just around the corner, to help her be kind to others, to help her with life in general.

And once her teacher assigns them a year long project on anything they want, she decides to study religion and see if she can't find one that sticks, find something that she can believe in and a place where she can feel truly close to God.

This was a quick, easy read and the overall message, that, everyone's different, don't believe everything you hear, be true to yourself and kind to others, is what I took away from it. I also now know that "I must...I must...I must increase my bust" was not originally from "Punky Brewster" but from this Judy Blume classic. You learn something new every day.

Comments

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

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