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Forever . . .

Judy Blume (Goodreads Author)

3.62 · Rating details · 58,064 ratings · 4,154 reviews

Katherine and Michael meet at a New Year's Eve party. They're attracted to each other, they grow to love each other. And once they've decided their love is forever, they make love.

It's the beginning of an intense and exclusive relationship, with a future all planned. Until Katherine's parents insist that she and Michael put their love to the test with a summer apart...

Fore ...more

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Paperback, 178 pages

Published June 3rd 2005 by Pan Childrens (first published 1975)

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Nov 12, 2012 Nataliya rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Those who are tired of unrealistic attitudes about sex and love for young people

Shelves: for-my-future-hypothetical-daughter, 2012-reads

A word of warning: This review will be conducted from a soapbox¹ (which, if you think about it, is a completely baffling expression).

¹ As one would expect from a young feminist gynecologist, of course.

Let's cut to the chase: This book is about a realistically intense relationship between Kath and Michael, two teenagers in the 1970s. They meet, fall in love with a speed only teens are capable of, he wants to sleep with her, she is reluctant, eventually they do it, they are both into it, she (responsibly) gets birth control. And nothing tragic happens to them even though they have sex. And they are not 'destined for each other' or 'soulmates' or any of those crap excuses that books present now every time teens decide to have sex. And even more, their relationship does not survive a brief separation. And it's treated as something perfectly normal. And this is why I love it.

But let's have the author, Judy Blume of Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret fame speak for herself:

"This book was first published in 1975. My daughter Randy asked for a story about two nice kids who have sex without either of them having to die. She had read several novels about teenagers in love. If they had sex the girl was always punished—an unplanned pregnancy, a hasty trip to a relative in another state, a grisly abortion (illegal in the U.S. until the 1970's), sometimes even death. Lies. Secrets. At least one life ruined. Girls in these books had no sexual feelings and boys had no feelings other than sexual. Neither took responsibility for their actions. I wanted to present another kind of story—one in which two seniors in high school fall in love, decide together to have sex, and act responsibly."

And guess what - there are many conversations about sex with the blissful conviction of that time that sexual repression and double standards and the battles over birth control and abortion are finally over and common sense prevails. Now fast-forward to the 21st century to see what unnecessary and charged emotions are still flung about when these simple things are concerned - it's like we took quite a few gigantic steps backwards, and that makes me really sad. Because it's not the world I'd like to leave behind for my future hypothetical daughter.

"It's up to you to decide what's right and what's wrong ... I'm not going to tell you to go ahead but I'm not going to forbid it either. It's too late for any of that. I expect you to handle it with a sense of responsibility though ... either way."

The parents and grandparents discuss sex with the teens and make it clear that they'd rather have them do it under their roof than somewhere else in the unsafe fashion. Parents advise kids about sex but do not cross the boundaries in explicitly forbidding anything. Birth control is accessible and is viewed as a resposible choice, and Planned Parenthood helps Katherine make that choice (you know, the same clinics that cause politicians' rage-fueled speeches about them 'killin' babies' - and yet, from what I have seen in real world, supplying endless women with excellent prenatal care, helping bring healthy happy babies into this word. How 'bout that?).

A teenage girl decides to give birth not because abortion is viewed as a horrible thing to do but because that is her choice (yes, the real pro-choice stand, unlike what the conservative media paint it these days, trying to equate choice and murder in the eyes of the public). And no one is ashamed of having sex (which would undoubtedly lead to the dreaded slut-shaming) because sex is viewed as part of a normal life, like I firmly believe it should be.

"Just be careful ... that's my only advice."
"Of what?"
"Pregnancy."
"Grandma!"
"And venereal disease."
"Really ... "
"Does it embarrass you to talk about it?"
"No, but ... "
"It shouldn't."

We as a society keep putting sex on an unnecessary pedestal. We keep shaming girls for having sex. We have political leaders who are outraged at having society cover the cost of birth control as to them it means condoning women having sex and - God forbid! - enjoying it. There are so many people warring against birth control and abortion because there should be 'consequences' to daring to have sex! And, of course, in literature aimed at young people sex is only permitted if it's true love, nothing less.

Well, guess what? I happen to believe that sex needs to be two things: (1) consensual, and (2) enjoyable for everyone involved. As long as these criteria are fulfilled, I don't have a problem with it, and I hope society would eventually come to peace with not only it but the ability and the right of people involved to make informed and responsible choices about it. And that someday the materials that are deemed unacceptable to young people would be the one with graphic violence and not the ones with peaceful sex. And that teenage experimenting, if done responsibly, is okay - because why wouldn't it be?

"That's not a bad word ... hate and war are bad words but fuck isn't."

And that it's perfectly okay to not find your soulmate and the 'perfect one' in the 'Twilight'-like fashion, and it's nothing to frown upon. And it's okay to have sex when you are in love, and it's okay to not have that love last forever.

And therefore I gladly give this Judy Blume book 4 stars.

"I wanted to tell him that I will never be sorry for loving him. That in a way I still do--that maybe I always will. I'll never regret one single thing we did together because what we had was very special. Maybe if we were ten years older it would have worked out differently. Maybe. I think it's just that I'm not ready for forever."

————
Also posted on my blog. ...more

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Jan 02, 2011 Aleeeeeza rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-read, won

Edit on 12/11/2011: To anyone who's got a problem with this review:

1) Yes, I know that this book was a big deal when it was released. That doesn't mean that when I read it in this day and age that I'm going to judge it by it's historical significance--I definitely appreciate it but it doesn't change the fact that I read it when I did and didn't like it and I don't want to have to constantly justify myself for that. (Let's ignore the fact that that's precisely what I'm doing with this edit. Right Edit on 12/11/2011: To anyone who's got a problem with this review:

1) Yes, I know that this book was a big deal when it was released. That doesn't mean that when I read it in this day and age that I'm going to judge it by it's historical significance--I definitely appreciate it but it doesn't change the fact that I read it when I did and didn't like it and I don't want to have to constantly justify myself for that. (Let's ignore the fact that that's precisely what I'm doing with this edit. Right.)

2) I know that this book's supposed to be an accurate portrayal of love at the age of seventeen and for that I should cut it some slack, but I just recently turned eighteen and I've got a good idea of what most teenagers think love to be, and what I think it's supposed to be, and with all that in mind I can't, for the life of me, abide the portrayal of love in this book. I did not enjoy reading it at all and it annoyed the bajeezus out of me, and nothing will change that.

3) Guys might go around naming their underparts but I'm always going to think that's disgusting.

4) I HATE ELLIPSES AND ANY BOOK THAT HAS FIFTEEN ELLIPSES PER PAGE WILL AUTOMATICALLY CARVE IT'S PLACE IN MY HATED-THIS-BOOK LIST.

*takes deep breath* Okay, yeah, that's it.

Okay, yeah, so maybe I should explain the 1 star—if you’ve been following my reviews, you’ll know that I rarely give books a 1 star rating…I’m not that hard to please as a reader, and I hate giving one of Judy Blume’s books 1 star (I used to love her MG books as kid, from what I can recall anyway). But the thing is, I don’t think there was a SINGLE redeeming factor in this book for me. Let me list a brief list of the reasons:

1) THE WRITINGGG. It was so…bland and unimaginative, and it was really hard to picture the scenes sometimes. And the dialogue could be VERY corny at times. But maybe what bothered me most was the CONSTANT use of ellipses… I mean, you know…ellipses have this really annoying effect…they make the reader keep taking pauses…and in this book there was one in practically EVERY FRIGGIN’ SENTENCE OMG. Argggggg.

2) The characters. I didn’t give a shizz about a single one of them, NOT ONE. Kath was boooooooring and Michael was the horniest male love interest of all time. I mean, yeah, teens are all lusty and hormonal and blah blah blah (Hi! 17-year-old speaking here!), but this man takes it to a whole new level. Which brings me to…

3) I wasn’t particularly impressed with love’s portrayal in this book. I mean, to me, there was zilch chemistry between the characters and even so, it felt to me like Kath was more into screwing Michael because he wanted it so bad rather than her own desire to do it. The sex in this book is also REALLY explicit. I’m no prude, but come on, all that describing takes away all the romance in the scene. Oh and, Michael calls his you-know-what RALPH. Dude. Seriously!

I get why this book is important for the time it was written in—that didn’t stop me from blitzing through it to finally get over with it. Thankfully, it’s super short and I won it in a contest, so I’m not that miffed. I’m not saying no one should read this book cause it’s aaaaawfulll—a lot of people seem to really like it—but it just wasn’t for me. ...more

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Jul 21, 2019 Alex rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2019

The thing about Forever is that I didn’t read it. Boys didn’t read any of this, and do you know what happened next? What happened is we were terrible at sex. My sex ed was, I would trace ladies from comic books and then I would draw nipples and bushes on them. I sold them to my classmates. Here’s the exact picture I used to trace:

white-queen

This is the White Queen, a character who's been around for decades and never stopped dressing like this. Imagine someone drawing her, like, "Here's my new character!" a ...more

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Oct 20, 2010 karen rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: why-yes-i-ya, and-so-this-is-grad-school

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 04, 2018 Julie G rated it liked it

Shelves: nobody-talks-like-this, retro-buddy-reads, that-70s-show

Wow, this “retro re-read” project I've taken on with my sister-in-snark, Vanessa, has become borderline INSUFFERABLE.

We had so much enthusiasm, Vanessa and I, as we compiled an informal list of our most decadent, dirty reads, the ones we hid back in the day from the probing eyes of teachers and had covers that were worn from so many adolescent girls' hands.

Once, our inexperienced selves considered these books titilating; as experienced adults I have more likely considered. . . how did this nonse ...more

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Dec 07, 2011 Katrina Passick Lumsden rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite-ya, allthefeels

What do you do when the "love of your life"....isn't? Forever answers that question with a simple and unflinching response; you move on.

Kath and Michael meet at a party and quickly fall into a very physical romance. After roughly a few months, Kath finally gets up the courage to have sex with Michael, believing she is in love and that she and Michael will last forever. Michael too feels he and Kath are meant to be, so they flounder along in their romance, discovering each others' bodies and hol ...more

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Nov 05, 2007 JJ rated it it was ok

Shelves: yafiction

I read this book because I'm attempting to read (or reread) some classic YA books. Now, I'm a so-so fan of Judy Blume, I know she has a lot of die-hards out there. I recently read Everything I Need to Know About Being a Girl I learned from Judy Blume but I guess I was more of a Beverly Cleary kid.

This book is about first loves and first sexual experiences. The story itself was good, but I think Judy Blume left out a lot of details. The boyfriend, Michael, is basically a horn dog who would do any ...more

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Jan 04, 2020 Whitney Atkinson rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2020

2.5 stars

This book is to the girls of the 70s what American Girl's "The Keeping and Caring of You" is to girls from the 90s. It's a very short, dry story of these two teens exploring sex, and it reads more like a zeitgeist piece than an evergreen how-to guide. I was mainly interested in how teenagers talked to their partners and the social environment of sex around that time, and evaluating how different the world is today compared to this book was interesting. I don't regret reading this book, ...more

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Dec 13, 2021 ♥️Dev♥️ ~ Dark & Depraved Old Soul rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1-star, reviews-written, genre-young-adult

If anyone is looking for guidebook on sex, I recommend this. And seriously a penis named Ralph? I think birthday candle is better than that!

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Aug 22, 2018 Sheri rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens-fiction, 2018

Judy Blume has always excelled at writing about issues that are relevant to teens. Her plainspoken characters dealing with everyday contemporary topics offer relatable reads that get right to the heart of the matter. Here she takes the reader into that first real relationship, that first love, and that first sexual experience.

While some say there is no plot or character development in this novel, I find that to be Blume’s point; she perfectly illustrates the shallowness of most teen relationship ...more

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Sep 24, 2011 Lissa added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

How depressing.

Keeping in mind this book was published in the mid-70s, it's still incredibly relevant to today's society. In fact, apart from the absence of conspicuous technology like cell phones, this could have taken place in the 2000s. It's a timeless story, and the reason it's getting such a low rating from me is purely personal:

Michael reminded me of the ex boyfriend who broke my heart and whom I still have nightmares about years later. A pushy sex-obsessed hormonal teenage boy who pressur How depressing.

Keeping in mind this book was published in the mid-70s, it's still incredibly relevant to today's society. In fact, apart from the absence of conspicuous technology like cell phones, this could have taken place in the 2000s. It's a timeless story, and the reason it's getting such a low rating from me is purely personal:

Michael reminded me of the ex boyfriend who broke my heart and whom I still have nightmares about years later. A pushy sex-obsessed hormonal teenage boy who pressures Kath into giving up her virginity under the guise of 'forever'. She clearly didn't want to sleep with him even though she was into him and he just kept pushing and pushing until she gave in.

And look, I'm among the first to be critical of teenage forever love. I was burned there as well. I don't necessarily want to read a book that reminds me of the more painful emotional times in my life. I don't necessarily want to read a book that waits until marriage for the sexual relationship to begin. But I was very uncomfortable reading this when the focus was on sexual love and not the intimate emotional connection. And even when you think they're getting emotionally intimate,Kath changes her mind purely because she meets another guy while she's away at summer camp. Sure, she seems a lot like a typical teenager (and I don't mean to insult my teenage friends but you guys are hardly 'typical') and I guess that's the whole point of the book. This situation will have happened to a lot of young people and it will keep on happening to a lot of young people.

And yeah, I totally hate Kath's parents. What right do they have to tell her what to do once she reaches eighteen? They sabotage her relationship and for no reason other than it's her first. They weren't even dating for that long. There was nothing about Michael they didn't like except that maybe he and Kath were sexually active. Breaking up your child's relationship just because they're sexually active isn't going to return your little girl to the untouched virgin she was. She'll just find another guy.

Oh and look - Kath does.

Maybe it just wasn't for me because I'm in my mid-twenties, but by my judgement I think it'd be a wonderful novel for a young teenager beginning to explore relationships and sexuality. Judy Blume certainly never shied away from the important issues and if it weren't for these uber realistic young adult novels coming out in the 70s, I don't know where we'd be now. ...more

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Jan 06, 2014 Suzanne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: gave-away

How have I not read this sooner? I am almost 40 and only finished this today! Better late than never. I consider this book to be an education, therefore the first thing I was impressed with, with my edition being from 2005, was the author's entry at the beginning covering the absolutely essential updated requirements for safe and healthy sexual responsibility.

This was an easy read, a nice coming of age story, set in the mid seventies. Our protagonist, Katherine was a very sensible 17 year old, ...more

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Oct 25, 2012 Erin rated it did not like it

Recommends it for: Ralph-lovers

Shelves: big-romance, love-geometry, reading-challenge

I'm sure this book was very important in its time and was the means by which many girls learned about sex. Unfortunately for Forever, I am not interested in PSA books; I prefer multidimensional characters, a plot, and emotions. Weird, huh?

The lack of the aforementioned qualities is what really drove this book into 1 star territory for me, but there were a few... special qualities that dug its grave even deeper.

1. Ellipses

There were so many ellipses... at the end of basically every sentence spok ...more

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Nov 28, 2010 Tanya Wadley rated it did not like it

Shelves: fiction

I hardly want to admit I read this book... kind of funny that a "censored" book like this managed to make it pretty far around my 5th or 6th grade in Utah (it seems all my friends at the time had read it, were reading it, or were planning to read it). I think I actually made it about half way through the book and just didn't feel like it was something I should be reading (having a strong religious background encouraging waiting until marriage to enjoy sex). It's funny to think back on what I do ...more

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Sep 28, 2018 Kelly (and the Book Boar) rated it did not like it

Shelves: liburrrrrry-book, teenie-bopper-books, i-read-banned-books, hot-mess-express, read-in-2018

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

Okay, this one DID. NOT. stand the test of time. Released in 1975, Forever … topped the Banned Books charts due to its direct approach to teenagers having sexual relationships. Sadly it did not weather well. From the abuse of ellipses (and coming from me you KNOW there were a lot, because I myself am a fan), to the terrible writing, to the leading male that would have modern-day girls declaring #metoo, to the girl who wanted “forev ...more

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Nov 23, 2017 Elizabeth rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: i-own, coming-of-age, teen-pregnancy, young-adult, thank-god-i-m-no-longer-sixteen

4 stars to Judy Blume for her fantastic portrayal of teen sexuality and relationships!

It's a bit dated, yes - very 70s - but I actually loved the nostalgic vibe. It reminded me a lot of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. And to be honest, the characters in this book are the most realistic teens I've read about in YA fiction in a long time. I would have loved to get my hands on this book when I was younger. Alas, I didn't know it existed.

In Forever... soon-to-be highschool graduates Kathe ...more

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May 31, 2011 Stacia (the 2010 club) rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, contemporary-romance

2 stars for my own personal enjoyment of the story. It was outdated, but Judy Blume is a great storyteller. I can't really blame her too much for writing a book 30 years ago and it not feeling up to date now.

5 stars for the author telling a realistic story about a girl's first time with both falling in love and having sex. I loved that the teen boy could not make it more than a few seconds without finishing. I was nodding when the girl was disappointed with her first time. These are real things ...more

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Nov 23, 2009 Manybooks rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: judy-blume, school-story, childrens-literature, favourites-read, book-reviews

PERSONAL MUSINGS ON A CONTROVERSIAL FAVOURITE

I do have very many fond memories of Judy Blume's Forever. It has (ever since my first read at around age fourteen or so) been a novel to appreciate and read over and over again, especially since it is still considered so controversial that an unfortunately high number of ranting parental ignoramuses (often the puritanical religiously fanatic types) continue to desire the book to be universally banned, namely that they want not simply their own childr ...more

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Jan 25, 2009 Latasia rated it it was amazing

Forever By Judy Blume is another one of my favorite books. I read this book a million times, and it seems like when i read it, the story seems brand new to me. This book is about young love, something that all teens can relate to. Katherine is a young teen who is in high school. She is starting to get the experience of sex when she finds the love of her life, a boy name Michael. She doesn't want to loose her virginity for the satisfaction or curiosty, she really wants it to be right and special. Forever By Judy Blume is another one of my favorite books. I read this book a million times, and it seems like when i read it, the story seems brand new to me. This book is about young love, something that all teens can relate to. Katherine is a young teen who is in high school. She is starting to get the experience of sex when she finds the love of her life, a boy name Michael. She doesn't want to loose her virginity for the satisfaction or curiosty, she really wants it to be right and special. She wants her relationship with Michael to have emotions attached to it.Katherine learns more than just what it means to have a sexual relationship. She matures through the process, gains confidence, and discovers that when one is young, sometimes "forever" does not mean the same thing as "everlasting." This is what the book means to me.

I learned alot from this book, it was something that i found very interesting. Teens deal with the curiosty of sex all the time, and they are afraid to say how and what they feel about it. Judy Blume is one of my favorite authors. I feel she knows how to address the topics or issues in which teens deal with. When this book was written, it caused alot of controversy. It was baned because, it was thought to not be appropriate for teens. The things that were being discussed in the book was in detail. I feel that teens need to read things that they can relate to because it lets them see that they aren't alone in the world, and they don't have to be afraid of what they think and feel.
I would reccomend this book to young adults, and even adults. Adults think they know everything, but they need to know that everything that they experienced a long time a go isn't the same. Things have changed alot from back then, there are brand new issues everyday with teens. And this book is perfect for young adults to get a greater look in the issues that they face everyday. I guarantee that reading this book will have you speechless. You won't want to put this book down. Sex is a big topic that is always presented as bad, and adults always persuade us not to do it. As teens we are going to want to do what we want, and we are much smarter than people think. Sex isn't bad, you just need to know how to protect yourself from STD's and Pregnancy. Enjoy the book!
...more

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Jun 16, 2007 RachelAnne rated it liked it

Shelves: youngadult, novels

A rather lackluster narrative of a teen relationship, Forever is still noteworthy for a couple of reasons: 1. It's the first-written ya book I know of where the kids fall in love, make a responsible decision to have sex and neither is killed, maimed, impregnated or emotionally scarred for life. 2. Blume depicts two teens who fall in love with one another, have a fulfilling (if somewhat blah) relationship, and fall out of love. There's no patronizing insinuation that teens are too young to be in ...more

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Nov 25, 2014 emma rated it did not like it

Shelves: contemporary, ya, nope, reviewed, 1-and-a-half-stars

my grandmother sent me this. MY GRANDMOTHER. i'll never not cringe at the thought of this book. ...more

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Sep 24, 2019 Eliza rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, 2-stars, young-adult, reviewed, library-books, below-average, fiction

Actual Rating: 2.25/5

I knew going into Forever… that it was about teenage sexuality; what I didn’t know was just how much it was going to be about that. And I mean: All. The. Time. It was to the point where it felt like Katherine didn’t have a personality; Michael came off as a major jerk because all he wanted was sex from Kath; the other characters were so unimportant and were only there to talk about sex; I forgot she even had a sister at one point…

The entire time Katherine was with Michael I ...more

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Apr 06, 2011 Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* rated it it was ok

Shelves: a-own-book-form, 2-star, reviewed, young-adult

Wow, finally a book by Blume I didn't enjoy or think was well done. This is a famous piece of hers because of the controversy of underage sex during dating. It has been frequently banned. It's one that has eluded my collection for years and once I finally found it, read it quickly but was left disappointed.

Blume is usually pro at weaving realistic situations, writing emotional depth convincingly, and propelling average stories forever with oomph, but here it all fell short. It felt too forced, a ...more

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Oct 18, 2008 Vanessa rated it really liked it

Category is: Re-read review extravaganza

Julie and I have done a few trashy buddy reads now, and thus far the results have been grim (*cough cough* Flowers in the Attic, *throws up in mouth a little* Fear of Flying.)

This book (which is NOT trashy; sorry to drag you into our degeneracy, Judy) more or less held up though. Rather than recycle my original review below, here are some random, additional thoughts:

• I was surprised at how affecting I still found this story despite dialogue like this:

As

...more

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Sep 04, 2007 Briynne rated it it was ok

Nope. Didn't like this one either. Another YA Lit book read for class. I guess I didn't like it for two main reasons. First, the boyfriend is a completely flat character; from what the author shows/tells you of him (which is pretty much nothing save a bit of whining) you really can't figure out what all the fuss is about. I felt more toward Theo in the ten or so pages devoted to him than I did for whats-his-name (I literally can't remember even though I read it yesterday, so I guess that helps p ...more

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Jan 14, 2008 Amanda rated it liked it

What I learned: If you are going to have sex, use birth control. Your first love, no matter how passionate, probably isn't your true love.
I remember this one with fondness because there were about three copies going around when I was in 7th grade. We read it, passed in on to the next girl, who in turn passed it on. Every 12-13 year old girl in my class read it sometime that year and it was something we all had in common. I suppose, now that I think about it, the reason we shared the books is th ...more

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Apr 05, 2014 Cora Tea Party Princess rated it it was ok · review of another edition

5 Words: Sex, sex, sex, sex, sex.

Seriously, that's all this book seemed to be about. Sex. I've read New Adult with much less sex and we all know what that genre can be like.

I didn't connect with the characters, I couldn't really relate to them much. I think it had to do with how sex-obsessed they were.

I don't feel I can write a full review for this, it didn't really leave me feeling anything at all. All I really did while reading it was roll my eyes. ...more

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Jan 10, 2022 nitya rated it it was ok

Read for my MLIS elective

I really don't know how to feel about this book tbh. But I understand why it's banned/challenged a LOT and the significant contributions Blume made to the YA genre. It's a work that openly discusses and depicts (as realistically as someone can) safe sex, birth control, Planned Parenthood (which doesn't kill babies @ Republicans), and teenagers being, well, teenagers, so I won't hate on it too much.

Content warning: attempted suicide, (emotional) cheating, sexual content ( ...more

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Feb 13, 2016 Tijana rated it liked it · review of another edition

1st time read: 4 stars (circa 2005)
2nd time read: 2.5 stars (2020)

I'm spending some time at my parents house and, God knows why, without planning, I randomly pulled this book from the shelf. Maybe I wanted to see if the magic was still there? Either way, I should've just stayed away.

It was easy to tell why I loved it so much 15 years ago, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone today. The dialogue was chopped and sometimes exhausting/annoying to read, and the story simply didn't dig deep enough.

N ...more

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Apr 30, 2009 Tatiana rated it it was ok

Shelves: ya, 2009

This book was recommended to me and therefore I was very surprised that it wasn't very good. I don't care about the explicit nature of it. In fact, sex scenes were the only ones that kept me remotely interested in the story. Book just wasn't written that well. Language was overly simplistic, there was no depth to the story. Even at 17 there is more to a teenager's emotions than: I like the guy, he is nice, I want to have sex with him, I love him, etc. Plus, the relationship described fell flat, ...more

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About Judy Blume

Judy Blume

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Judy Blume spent her childhood in Elizabeth, New Jersey, making up stories inside her head. She has spent her adult years in many places doing the same thing, only now she writes her stories down on paper. Adults as well as children will recognize such Blume titles as: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret; Blubber; Just as Long as We're Together; and the five book series about the irrepressible Fu Judy Blume spent her childhood in Elizabeth, New Jersey, making up stories inside her head. She has spent her adult years in many places doing the same thing, only now she writes her stories down on paper. Adults as well as children will recognize such Blume titles as: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret; Blubber; Just as Long as We're Together; and the five book series about the irrepressible Fudge. She has also written three novels for adults, Summer Sisters; Smart Women; and Wifey, all of them New York Times bestsellers. More than 80 million copies of her books have been sold, and her work has been translated into thirty-one languages. She receives thousands of letters a year from readers of all ages who share their feelings and concerns with her.
Judy received a B.S. in education from New York University in 1961, which named her a Distinguished Alumna in 1996, the same year the American Library Association honored her with the Margaret A. Edwards Award for Lifetime Achievement. Other recognitions include the Library of Congress Living Legends Award and the 2004 National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.
She is the founder and trustee of The Kids Fund, a charitable and educational foundation. She serves on the boards of the Author's Guild; the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators; the Key West Literary Seminar; and the National Coalition Against Censorship.
Judy is a longtime advocate of intellectual freedom. Finding herself at the center of an organized book banning campaign in the 1980's she began to reach out to other writers, as well as teachers and librarians, who were under fire. Since then, she has worked tirelessly with the National Coalition Against Censorship to protect the freedom to read. She is the editor of Places I Never Meant To Be, Original Stories by Censored Writers.
Judy has completed a series of four chapter books -- The Pain & the Great One -- illustrated by New Yorker cartoonist James Stevenson. She has co-written and produced a film adaptation of her book Tiger Eyes, and is currently writing a new novel.
Judy and her husband George Cooper live on islands up and down the east coast. They have three grown children and one grandchild. ...more