Module 1- Are you There God? It's Me, Margaret. by Judy Blume

*Summary: Bras, boys, kissing, and making new friends are just some of the concerns that 11, going on 12, year-old Margaret Simon faces in Are you There God? It’s Me, Margaret. When her family moves to New Jersey from NYC, Margaret has to adjust to a new life, with new friends, a new school, and moving away from her beloved Grandmother. Margaret meets a girl in her neighborhood named Nancy, and they become friends instantly. Although Margaret has made new friends, she still has a lot of insecurities on the inside that she can’t seem to talk to anyone about…so, instead she talks to God about her innermost thoughts.

*Bibliography: Blume, J. (1970). Are you there God?: It's me, Margaret. New York: Dell. 

*My Rating: This book was a quick read that would be fun for a pre-teen girl to read. I’m not so sure that many boys would find this book very interesting. I can see how this book gained so much popularity. Judy Blume was one of the first authors for books of pre-teens to talk so honestly and openly about such subjects as kissing, periods, and bras. This book is refreshing, funny, and fun. 

*Review: Gr 4-7-Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret is Judy Blume's account of what it is like to be an almost 12-year-old girl whose greatest desire is just to be normal. The novel is honest and forthright. Margaret Simon worries that she doesn't have anything to fill her bra, that she will be the last girl in her group of friends to start menstruating, that she just won't fit in. And to compound things, she has no religion, so she can't join either the Jewish Community Center or the Protestant Youth Center in her new neighborhood. This recorded version of Margaret's conversations with God, her parents, friends and us, the audience, is even more authentic than the book. Laura Hamilton's reading captures Margaret's anxiety in her conversations with God, her indignation in some conversations with her parents, and her enthusiasm and vulnerability in conversations with her friends. She can emphasize the girls' fixation with the pronunciation of new words in their life, as well as Margaret's pain when she is forced to cancel her planned holiday visit to Florida to see her much loved grandmother. Listeners seem to be co-conspirators, sympathetic friends, and always important members of Margaret's entourage. This conversational story is well-served here.-Edith Ching, St. Albans School, Washington, DC 

 Ching, E. (1998). Are you there god? it's me, margaret. School Library Journal, 44(2), 72. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/211709143?accountid=7113 

*Uses in a library: I do not think this book would be good as a read-aloud for a whole group in a library setting; however, a librarian could create a book list for “Girl’s ONLY” with this book on it. It would be kind of fun to create a display that said “No boys allowed” and have books like this one and others like it displayed as suggested reads. Keep in mind, if a librarian made a “Girls only” display it might be only fair to create a “Boy’s Only” display too.