Is Are You There God? It's me, Margaret

[sunshinesupermum]

My grandson is 10 years old. Is this a suitable read for him or is it only for girls? TIA

I don’t recall Hitler but I do remember Ralph

@LynneBenfield Ralph is in Forever not Margaret.

Ah thanks everyone, I had confused the two books!

Sorry for the Hitler panic...!
@PlaitBilledDuckyPuss I agree, Sally J F was a great book and I don't think I appreciated a lot of it at the time. Might check it out again.

Ah my turn to confuse issues

@LynneBenfield although if you go by the ages of the characters and the dates the books were published Margaret and the characters from Forever are pretty much the same age so they could easily all be at the same High Schools together.
I over think about Judy Blume books far to much.... Margaret and her friends are all 65 year old women now 😱

and Fudge's actual name was Farley Drexel Hatcher was just thinking of that yesterday, I told you lot I manifest threads into life (see the glasses on trampoline thread) 😋

I was looking at the poster for the forthcoming film and it has retro-style swirly writing and Margaret dressed in bell-bottoms, so it looks like it might be set in the 70s - hope this is so. Thinking about it, a contemporary setting would require so much updating as to make the story unrecognisable, so it would make sense to set it in the early 70s when it was written.

I never heard of the film til this thread, but Youtube has a trailer. Looks pretty 70's to me!

Neither do I!

Why can't they make a film of Forever,that would be more interesting?😉

Wikipedia says there is a Netflix series in the pipeline.

I loved Judy Blume books when I was 10/11/12! But I’m answer to your question op I don’t think it’s suitable for a 10 yr old boy.

I’d read it at that age. Although imagine lots of boys might not be that interested in Judy bloom books, and this one particularly (as others have said, one of the main themes is periods)

My now 13 year old read it when she was 11 and enjoyed it. It's a very easy, quick read, and I guess the themes are still relevant. I remember being amazed at the time that Margaret was so desperate to get her period! The bit I'd forgotten was all the religious stuff. I think Margaret's parents aren't religious but everyone in her school goes to one church or another and so she's trying out God. It's fun but not much there for the average 10 year old boy.

I used to enjoy reading some boys' books at that age so I'm sure there are plenty of boys who might enjoy this book. I think I read it in about 1989, so about 20 years after it was first published. I remember not having a clue what the belt thingy was that the girls wore when they got their periods. But I've always liked things that seemed dated, Ballet Shoes, boarding school books etc. Dated was exciting to me.

I've just remember the poor girl they bully and call a slut because her breasts are more developed than the other girls.

Oh I am so going to watch this.

“I must, I must, I must improve my bust”

Would your grandson be into that?

We all read AYTGITM when I was 10-11yo, late 70s.
I would have thought some Jacqueline Wilson books would be better for most lads, or Jeremy Strong ones.

Excellent!

It’s was a bible for us in those days, I must have read it a dozen times - on sleepovers and under the duvet. Lots of period talk and yes, horrible bullying of a character they call “Blubber” because of her size. It’s brutal.

For fans of (very) vintage Jacqueline Wilson, AYTGIMM is the book that Alison rips in half in 'The Other Side' because she's upset by the idea of Margaret being so close to her mum (and the same closeness being enjoyed by her friend Claire whose book it is) when her own mum has rejected her.

Blubber was a whole separate book, literally just about bullying that girl. Not a nice read!!

I am very excited about the film. Woop!

At risk of derailing, I have banged on about this on other threads but whilst amongst fellow fans, Judy Blume has done some adult books - The Unlikely Event is good and Summer Sisters is very Judy Blume!

I loved Judy Blume and have all my old copies. My DS has loved all of the Fudge ones, plus the spin off with Sheila, Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great. He also enjoyed Its Not the End of the World, which is the one with a girl whose parents divorced.

Do you remember Just as Long as we’re together and the sequel?
I loved them all, and I also like her adult books.

I also had a book called Letters to Judy which was kids writing to her with their problems, including abuse. It was pretty upsetting really.

I will definitely be watching the Margaret film. My DS finds the sanitary towels and belts descriptions hilarious.

I am Jewish so I always loved those elements of her books. What also strikes me now is ordinary working families living in apartments with doormen (Henry the doorman in the Fudge books) in Manhattan!

So many memories!