Comments on: Summer of “Shelf Discovery” Week 2: Chapter 2

By: Kate

Kate — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 15:21:16 +0000

I had the same feelings about the relative thin-ness of Margaret, which I re-read as an adult years ago. I sort of preferred Then Again, but much like Jennifer Reese, I treated the books as having useful information, as opposed to protagonists I liked or identified with.

And I absolutely agree with GD–there are a number of Blume books I missed entirely (Deenie, Tiger Eyes), but I had the same copy of Otherwise Known! Our ages are different, so I’m not sure that’s an excuse, but maybe I just stopped reading her at some point . . .

By: Lizzie Skurnick

Lizzie Skurnick — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 00:15:52 +0000

I actually wrote about this after Shelf Discovery came out — I too could no longer interface w/Margaret, though for a reason that was interesting to me: http://jezebel.com/5235862/are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret-how-have-i-not-written-about-this-book-yet

By: Emily

Emily — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 22:45:41 +0000

I re-read Tiger Eyes for the first time since college. Wow. Though I remembered so much (the hot air balloons, the hiking boots, Ned, Wolf…) there was so much I had missed about her struggle after seeing her father murdered. Thin? Not by my grade. One thing I did remember clearly was that Ned, her mother’s suitor, kept trying to impress her. At one point, she points out bluntly and rudely that he has spinach in his teeth. The line that follows - “he picks it out, examines it and flicks it in the ash tray” is almost VERBATIM a line from Forever (which I also just re-read, and it made my heart ache for simple young love) where Michael does the EXACT same thing. Weird.

On a side note, I have no recollection of the religion in Margaret, though it was a jr high bible for me and my friends. And I learned about wet dreams from Then Again, but have no other memory of that book.

By: girldetective

girldetective — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 13:44:04 +0000

Margie, which parts did you think felt sanctimonious, the parts about the Danker girl, or the stuff about religion? Another reader called Tiger Eyes “thin” and I also am feeling that these Blumes are on the “lite” side. Tastes great, but less filling.

By: margie

margie — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 04:32:35 +0000

I definitely read ‘margaret’ as a pre-teen and absorbed the details about periods, a topic never discussed in my house. i never talked with my friends about any of that either, and felt very clueless and anxious about this as a kid - so i remember thinking that the book seemed unreal on that count, because my girlfriends and I just did not talk to each other like these characters. Re-reading it with my pre-teen now, it felt very out-of-date, and sanctimonious. i was surprised at how vacuous it all seemed, the character of margaret really did not evolve as much as i had hoped or somehow remembered. I need to look at ‘Then Again’ as I have not read this. Sounds like a good counterpoint to Margaret.
I am enjoying reading/thinking on the discussion - thanks for all this food for thought, girldetective.

By: Alice@Supratentorial

Alice@Supratentorial — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 01:59:49 +0000

I also re-read Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret. It’s just so iconic. I enjoyed it as a re-read. Blume so perfectly gets all the little details of the middle school years right. I was also interested to read it because of all the controversy surrounding it over the years. I’ve always been a bit mystified about why it was so controversial and I still am. It seemed even tamer in re-reading than what I remembered.

By: girldetective

girldetective — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 01:54:56 +0000

Shannon, I tried to get to both Blubber and Cat Ate My Gymsuit, but didn’t manage. May still try to get to Blubber, as it’s short and the discussion on it is interesting.

By: shannon

shannon — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 01:40:04 +0000

ditto about Deenie’s ’special spot’ - i do NOT remember that! and speaking of being an obtuse preteen, my cousin recently told me that the mention of rubbers littering the end of a street in a judy blume book (think it was then again maybe) made her think it had been raining and everyone left their rubber boots there!

this week i re-read Blubber and i was appalled! i did NOT remember Jill as being so off-the-cuff nasty and cold hearted - i remembered her as more of a bystander (a la barbara colorossa) but no, she’s a full fledged participant. when she finally intervenes in the bullying, it’s due to her stubborness, not because she has an ounce of empathy for Blubber.

in contrast, the other fat girl tale - Cat Ate My Gymsuit - came off as too ‘nice’ - all the taunting comes from herself (and her dad). where’s her bully? every school/class has at least one mean person. the only sort-of shocking thing was when her friend told her she was too fat. that would never happen today (and would it have happened back then?)

By: girldetective

girldetective — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 20:09:31 +0000

Jason is way more of a jerk than Margaret, who’s pretty sweet, but his quest for a personal belief is very like hers.

By: crystal

crystal — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 20:03:51 +0000

Also the Gods & Monsters book this month, Godless, seemed a weirdly fitting book to read right after Margaret. Jason is like the boy’s version of Margaret set alittle later -summer before sophomore year of highschool.