Although many of Judy Blume's novels for teenagers were written twenty-five to thirty-eight years ago, their plots and characters are still relevant to today's adolescent girls. She writes with direct honesty, never condescends to her readers and includes vivid and unflinching detail. Whether her female characters are searching for meaning, worrying about their appearance or struggling with the pangs of their first sexual experience, Blume expresses their dilemmas with force and compassion.
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret (Dell 1970)
This novel is perfect for the girl just entering her teen years. It tells the tale of Margaret, twelve years old, confused about religion, her family and the changes happening to her body. She tries to deal with some of these concerns by joining a club with three other pre-teens known as the PTS. However, when the other members get their periods first, or kiss boys before she does, Margaret experiences sensations of jealousy. She frequently asks "God" to help her understand what seems to be happening to her formerly stable life and thus enable her to grow up with ease.
Deenie (Dell 1973)
All teenage girls have moments where they wonder if they're beautiful, try to understand their culture's conceptions of beauty, or bemoan feeling less than beautiful. Deenie is a girl pretty enough to be a model, except that she appears to have a posture problem. It turns out to be scoliosis, or curvature of the spine, a condition that needs to be corrected with a brace. Unfortunately, Deenie will have to wear it for four years, the entirety of highschool! She deals with anger, rashes, frustration and rebellion. Eventually, she accepts that she must endure this trial in order to heal from her condition and realizes that others, including the boy she likes, must learn to accept her as she is.
Forever(Pocket Books 1975)
A story for older teenagers, Forever is an account of Katherine and Michael , who meet on New Year's Eve. They begin to fall in love and end up losing their virginity with each other. Blume is explicit about sexually oriented words like "****ing." She also describes how Katherine came and what Michael's penis looks like, an organ he refers to as "Ralph." When they're separated by work in the summer though, their relationship weakens. Kath begins to have feelings for another boy and learns that youthful emotions can rarely be sustained "forever."
Tiger Eyes (Dell 1981)
A book that deals with both the turmoils of adolescence and the conditions of grief, Tiger Eyes concerns the feelings of a girl, Davey, whose father has recently been shot in a holdup. The family moves to New Mexico to try to start a new life and there Davey meets Wolf while hiking in the canyon, a boy whose father is dying of an illness. Around the same time she encounters her new friend, Jane, starts school, gets a part in a musical, and deals with her mother beginning to date again. At the end, she realizes it is up to her to start the healing process and begin to think of a future for herself.
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