It's here! Our first book discussion. First things first, I am curious how many folks have actually obtained the book and started reading.
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret was oddly hard to find. I am saddened when "classics" are hard to find. Barnes and Noble misplaced all their copies, and I did not have the energy to comb the giant store, so John ended up checking out the book from the middle school library for me. In hindsight, getting
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret from the middle school library seems perfect. The first time my copy was checked out from the library was November 10, 1986. Who was that young girl? Where is she now? Did this book leave a lasting impact?
Confession: I just started the book last night. I made it to chapter 8. I plan to finish today. I want to keep today's discussion somewhat broad, just in case this post spurs some others to start reading. Hint, hint. My initial thought about
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret is that it could easily be a prequel to
Mean Girls. Nancy Wheeler terrifies me. Is she a young Regina George? (cue quote: "Raise your hand if you have been personally victimized by Regina George.") I keep cringing and waiting for a bad trick to be played on Margaret, for her to get hurt.
The second thought that has been bouncing around in my heard while I am reading is, "Is this a good book for young girls?" The inspiration for reading this book came from Jackie, who wondered if this book was too mature for one of her young elementary students. I have been debating if Judy Blume focuses too much on the obsession with breast size, boys, looking like a
Playboy model... Is Judy Blume over-emphasizing topics that are not very healthy for young girls, or is what she writes about exactly what 12-year-old girls are consumed with anyway? It's a debate to me. Are most tween and teen novels consumed with these topics?
Weigh in on the discussion. Run wild!
