This was a book I have read a hundred or more times as a tweenager. This was a defining book for me: entry into 'woman'hood. What that means? Growing boobs, liking boys and having my period.
Yes. This is a chick book. More importantly, a young tween chick book.
I recently bought the book for CJ to read. She seemed to enjoy it but since she doesn't share her thoughts often, I have no idea what she got out of the book.
And then my big girl book club had this as this month's book to read, which I was thrilled to do. I wanted to see how I would relate to this much favored book of my youth.
Well, it didn't work out like I had hoped.
It seemed less deep than I recall it being. I felt, in my memories, that I really KNEW Margaret and her struggles with her friends, her parents, her puberty, and the boy she would have a crush on.
But my recent reading of it shows that most of this is touched upon very 'lightly'. A few pages, paragraphs and that's it.
The worst part? The details were altered. I am sure they were altered to be more in line with *this* day and age, but I don't know...I didn't think it was necessary. But because when I read it in my youth, the details were still in my brain and when I re-read it and they weren't there...it made me wonder how much more of the book was altered. I was really disappointed that they felt the need to do that. I mean, no one rewrites Jane Eyre to make it more 'with the times'!
The interesting part that I picked up on, however, was the religious aspect of the book. Funny that none of that ever passed through my head as a child. I mean, I probably accepted it as part of life but NOW, it seems to be a bit 'politically incorrect' to have tweens reading about an 11 year old trying to figure out what God should be to her.
BTW, I mean politically incorrect for THOSE OTHER PEOPLE. For me, I don't care. And actually, I appreciated this aspect of the book and how, I feel, it had to be pretty controversial, even during my younger days, to have an 11 year old talk to God about whether she should be Jewish or Catholic, with agnostic-like parents.
A quick check on wikipedia shows that this book, as I just stated, is usually requested to be banned from libraries. And in 2006, the 'belted sanitary napkins' was revised to 'adhesive sanitary pads'.
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