Book Review: Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. by Judy Blume

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.