Margaret has just moved to the suburbs of New Jersey from New York City because her parents think her Jewish grandmother has too much of an influence on her. Her parents don’t practice any religion, but they say Margaret can choose her religion when she’s ready. Margaret is also in middle school, and all of a sudden, she becomes worried about when she’ll have her period, whether she needs a bra or not, and how to square dance with a cute boy. Her teacher, Mr. Benedict, has assigned everyone a year-long project on a topic of their choice, and Margaret chooses to do her project on religion. As Margaret juggles the project, puberty, and religious grandparents that are always trying to convert her, she talks to God about it all.
This
is more a Middle Grade novel than it is Young Adult, but older readers can
still appreciate it. I remember my mother gave this to me when I was around
twelve, and I found the religion part more interesting than the parts about
puberty. I liked the idea of remaining a child forever, so I never felt awkward
about being a late bloomer. I was probably the only girl who didn’t want her
period.
At
around that time in my life, I was also starting to think about my religious beliefs.
My mom and dad were both protestants and we went to church irregularly. I
remember my parents had to drag me to Sunday school when I was around four up
until I was about six. I hated church, but they told me I had to go and that I had
to believe in God, so I did. We stopped going to church a few years before the
divorce, but during the divorce, my mother went to church because it was the
only place she felt safe, so I went with her. After things settled down though,
I only went to church for Christmas Eve service with my Grandmother and I had
time to think about whether I actually believed in God. At around twelve, I
decided that I was an atheist. Just like Margaret though, I remember feeling
very confused about what I should believe.
In
the book, Margaret feels like everyone belongs to a religion except for her.
Also, her family is composed of people with very different belief systems. Her
parents aren’t religious at all, her grandmother is Jewish, and her
grandparents on her mother’s side are Christian. Margaret does have a
relationship with God though—every time she’s feeling out of place, scared, or
wishful, she talks to God. Margaret struggles to decide which religion to
choose, but in the end, she realizes that religion is something found within
you and not within a specific church (unless you feel like it’s the right one
for you). Throughout the book, Margaret is on this spiritual quest.
I
thought Margaret’s quest to understand her own perspective on religion was very
well-done. Judy Blume emphasized that God is not found in a church, but within
you. That’s what I was starting to understand around Margaret’s age. Before, I
just believed in God because that’s what I was told to do, but I realized that
God is something found within you, and I just didn’t feel Him.
I
give this book four out of five stars, and would suggest this book for younger
readers around 9-13 years old. It also might be a good idea if parents read
this with their child and then discussed it after reading it.
