First, I must apologize. I should have let you all know about this a long time ago. But hindsight is 20/20 and there’s no time like the present. (You can insert here any other belated/late and time related clichés that come to mind.)
This Saturday, November 16th at 11:00am will be the second meeting of our newest book group. The Déjà Vu Book Club will be discussing Judy Blume’s coming-of-age classic, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
The book is a tale about a young girl trying to find her place in her new school, her circle of friends, her religious beliefs and within herself. Margaret is at that age where she knows what’s to come and just can’t wait for it to get here. (Periods, boobs, boys, kissing – you know, the usual stuff!) Yet, she also would like things to stay the same. Her sounding board for all of her adolescent conundrums is her own personal God. While her extended family wants her to choose a religion, she finds it difficult because she just doesn’t feel His presence in those houses of worship the way she does when they’re alone.
Besides waxing nostalgic over this pre-teen female rite-of-passage book, we’ll be sure to discuss a bit of the “controversy” surrounding the re-writing of portions of the book by Ms. Blume, to bring certain details into the more modern age. As an aside, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is one of Judy Blume’s most challenged books.
The Déjà Vu Book Club is for people of all ages who are interested in reading, or re-reading, children’s and young adult classics. Come with your best friends, your daughter or son, or by yourself to meet other people who love and have fond memories of the same books you do.
We’ll also be deciding what titles to read next year at this Saturday meeting. If you have a favorite title from your childhood or teenage years that you’d like to read again and discuss, we’d love to know what it is!
So, if you’ve ever read Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, either the original or revised version, please come and talk about it with us on Saturday morning. And for those of you who may not have read it yet, please do! We have copies available at the library. You can check it out today and be done by tomorrow. It’s a slim book and a quick read, I promise.
Also, tomorrow morning there will be doughnuts!
-Melissa M.
Eleventh Stack 
THIS ONE was rewritten too?? (I heard about the rewriting of Otherwise known as Sheila the great…)
Yes, Sarah, but I promise only the parts referring to the “belt” have been re-written/removed. She didn’t touch anything else. :)
Interesting, since the “belt” parts were already outdated when I read the book. I always think that it’s good to expose kids to things they might not understand, I learn so much of my history (backed up with facts) from fiction.
I looove your blog, but since I live in Toronto, I won’t be able to make it to the book club, alas. It sounds wonderful. Perhaps you’ll read one of my favourites from childhood, Little Women, which is much “preachier” than I realized at the time, but still enthralling.
How about a virtual version of this club for those not in the area?
Ditto!
One of my most favorite books. It was titillating. Seriously. I read it at exactly the right time for it to work its adolescent magic — sixth grade. Though, back then, hardly any girl I knew had gotten her period in sixth grade. Not sure today’s girls, sigh, can say the same. Hormones in the milk and all
And the belt was outdated when I read the book, too, but I somehow loved that