Sarah O'Connor

“I think it’s time for me to decide what to be. I can’t go on being nothing forever, can I?” (Blume).

Almost twelve-year-old Margaret Simon has just moved from New York City to Farbrook, New Jersey and is settling in well. She has three new friends, a secret club, and is happy to belong with a group of girls where they can talk about boys and bras and getting their periods. But Margaret’s new friends are shocked she doesn’t have a religion, though Margaret does talk to God on her own without anyone, including her parents, knowing. Margaret starts to wonder if maybe it’s time for her to get her own religion, but which one will she choose?

I’m so upset I wasn’t a big reader as a kid because this book is AMAZING! While Margaret’s crisis on what religion she should be isn’t as topical nowadays as it was in the 1970s (which is an amazing plot-point considering the time when religion was a big part of people’s identities and how progressive Margaret’s parents would have been at that time) everything else about what Margaret is thinking and wondering is so topical for a young girl. I still can’t get over that this book has been banned and criticized for it’s talk about periods and the secrecy people still try to put around periods.

I loved Margaret’s voice. The novel takes on an almost diary/confessional aspect to it as Margaret talks, she’s honest with readers about exactly what she’s thinking, feeling, and wondering about. She’s overdramatic at times, at others ashamed of her behaviour, acting in a way many readers will remember acting when they were Margaret’s age.

I also loved her journey of religion and trying to find what fits for her. Margaret is the daughter of a Jewish father and a Christian mother, neither of who were interested in making their daughter choose a religion (coping with religious trauma the right way) and instead want Margaret to decide what she’d like to practice when she’s older. This doesn’t stop Margaret from having her own, private relationship with God though as Margaret often prays to God when she wants help, praying in an almost wish, give and take way that as a former Catholic was incredibly relatable.

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret truly is a timeless classic. I absolutely adored this book and really need to start reading more of Blume’s works!

Publication: January 1 1970
Publisher: Delacorte
Pages: (eBook)
Source: Libby
Genre: Fiction, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Contemporary
My Rating: ⛤⛤⛤⛤⛤
Summary:

Margaret Simon, almost twelve, likes long hair, tuna fish, the smell of rain, and things that are pink. She’s just moved from New York City to Farbook, New Jersey, and is anxious to fit in with her new friends—Nancy, Gretchen, and Janie. When they form a secret club to talk about private subjects like boys, bras, and getting their first periods, Margaret is happy to belong.

But none of them can believe Margaret doesn’t have religion, and that she isn’t going to the Y or the Jewish Community Center. What they don’t know is Margaret has her own very special relationship with God. She can talk to God about everything—family, friends, even Moose Freed, her secret crush.

Margaret is funny and real, and her thoughts and feelings are oh-so-relatable—you’ll feel like she’s talking right to you, sharing her secrets with a friend.