Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret

Bibliography

Blume, Judy. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Bradbury Press, 1970. Print.

Nilsen, A P., J. Blasingame, K. L. Donelson, and D. L. Nilsen. Literature for Today's Young Adults. 9th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2013. Print.

Summary

Eleven-year-old Margaret has recently moved from New York to New Jersey and is exploring life as an adolescent. She has questions about choosing a religion, what the normal physical features are for a girl her age going through puberty, and what boys think. It is a tough time, but she finds answers to some of these questions through conversations with God and her new friends. 

Analysis

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret is narrated from the point of view of Margaret during her sixth grade year as she ages from eleven to twelve years old.

Blume does a very realistic job of narrating Margaret’s exploration of puberty and the accompanying concerns of bras and bust size, getting her period, and boys and sexuality.  Much of this searching is done through observation of her classmates and  with her close friends in a girls-only club..  

Additionally, Margaret has a continued deep introspection of what it means to be a child in a home with parents of two different faiths who practice no religion. She sees God as an omniscient presence belonging to neither Judaism nor Christianity. He is also the one place she can turn to have a conversation where she is not judged. Her friends are asking for her to choose between the YMCA and the Jewish Community Center, so she takes it upon herself to explore Judaism and Christianity.  Her parents do not push this analysis upon her, she takes on this challenge. Blume portrays this exploration realistically as eleven-year-old Margaret, who is still missing the component of faith in religion, soon becomes bored at the services.

By the end of the book, Margaret feels she is starting to understand more and making progress on her analysis of religion and what is normal in puberty. Some of these realizations come through unanticipated events and uncovered misinformation from her friends.  Margaret is still insecure about boys and puberty, but she has learned a great deal. 

One weakness of this book is a lack of diversity. There appear to be only white characters; however, there are many different religious and socio-economic groups represented in the cast of friends. Also, this book is often challenged because of Blume’s honest portrayal of both puberty and religion. If a parent was uncomfortable with their child reading this book, I would point out that it helps adolescents meet some developmental tasks such as improving social skills, understanding body changes, developing “a personal ideology and ethical standards,” and taking on membership in a community (Nilsen, et al., p. 38).

Overall, I would recommend this book to a female YA reader because of the in-depth exploration of puberty and religion through the eyes of an eleven-year-old.