One Down, Dear God (2017 Reading Challenge)

My 2017 Reading Challenge is Banned Books. I am reading 5 Books this year that were banned from libraries in the Pre-K thru 12 schools I attended. Those books are:

• Tom Sawyer
• Huckleberry Finn
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret
• Chocolate War

And I plan to see why these works are so harmful for my young eyes back then. First up is Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

It's Me, Margaret. Are You There God? was written in 1970 by Judy Blume. It is a young adult novel, about a 6th grade girl, Margaret who has grown up without a religious connection, because of her parents' interfaith, Christian-Jewish, marriage. The most of the book is about her search for a single religion.

The other themes involved pre-teen girls go through like puberty (first bra & first period) and feeling attracted to boys. Starting in the 1980s, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret has been frequently censored, often due to its discussions of sex & religious tone.

Growing up, I thought the title was just a skit punchline on SNL. It wasn't until the book was talked about it in I Love the 70s, that I knew it was a real book. So, I had fresh eyes reading this book. I understand why it was banned for religion but not for sex.

I also do not understand why it was banned from All the schools. I understand it not being in the elementary schools but it could've be in the middle schools right next to the Sweet Valley High books.

Let's talk sex in this book. Whoever wanted this book because of it's sexual themes never knew a pre-teen a day in their life. The most vulgar thing they did was look at a penis in a textbook & the female form in a stolen Playgirl magazine.

At a boy/girl birthday party, a kissing game was played. Isn't that when kissing games start. They had bra & period pacts in the book. Matter fact, Margaret & friends were obsessed with starting their cycles. But that seems to be normal in some girl circles. There was a female classmate already more devoloped in book. I will say the honesty in her feelings about it was spot on. I being one of those girls feels there should be more stories about girls like her.

The religious tone of this book is very biased. "Religion is Confusing" is the message. The message is very easy to understand because it is being taught stereotypically. The Jewish paternal grandmother is overbearing and lays on a few layers of the guilt. The mostly estranged maternal grandparents are Christian.

They're pictured as closed-minded and not very accepting. Then there are religion-free parents. Margaret, who is being raised without religion, decides to do a project about religion. Her parents decided she will choose a religion, if she wants when she is an adult. Naturally, they are against her project but let her do it anyway. Here's my dilemma with them. The child, who secretly talks to God all the time, is on her own to study religion.

She goes to a synagogue, a few churches, and a confessional but only once I think did Margaret's parent ask her anything about her experience. The parents seemed quite neglectful for that. As if they wanted this child to feel the way she eventually feels from the start. So, I probably would've left this book off the school book shelves, too. If schools can't be open about religion, then don't talk about it. Religion is confusing enough.

All & All, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret was decent. It was about a pre-teen girl navigating life. It was a strangley honest tale, I like that. I still prefer Blubber by Judy Blume better. That tale of bullying wasn't banned from my school.

As Always Talking to You in Adult Terms

Book Title Help!!! Help Me, Please!!!

I used to love "Really Rosie" as a kid. I read the book first. Nickelodeon showed the “movie” all the time when I growing. I never saw the musical. But “Belieeeeve Meee”, I think I would have loved it. Gosh, if my age is not showing, I don’t know what is.

I remember when I took up reading as a hobby. After doing a stint (a grading period LoL) in “Chapter 1” (remedial reading resource) in the 1^st grade all because the teacher couldn't read my hand writing (Back in the good ol' days when it was thought that messy handwriting indicated...), I decide I didn't like people thinking I was stupid. A feeling that I have never shook. I threw myself into reading.

I wish I had made a list of All the books & stories I read as a child. I remember quite a few Plots but for the life of me don't remember the Titles. *sigh* Child OutSpoken_Diva didn’t know the importance of making lists like Adult OutSpoken_Diva does now. I have looked and looked at “Classic Children’s stories list. Came up with the same stuff mostly. But all is not a frustrated lost. I need you guys help. Maybe you guys read what I read what I read as child. Maybe you guys might remember the titles of what I read. Maybe might jog your memory. LoL

1.     A very disruptive elementary class gets a shock when their teacher is not in class and they get a stern substitute that makes them change their behavior. The teacher comes back and the class is forever well behaved. At the end, a mask resembling the face of the substitute is hanging in the teacher’s closet.

2.    A soccer player wants to improve her game. At home her parents are more concerned about the birth of her new sibling. She then gets some mysterious help in form of a note in a hallowed out egg. This goes on for weeks until the girl improves. She finds out it was her soccer coach all along.

3.     A boy refuses to sell chocolate for the school. His defiance trickles down to the other students. It also ticks off the school & the “secret" school gang.

4.    Girl decides to run away. Takes her little brother because he has money. They end up in a museum. The museum buys a statue that may not be real. So they go find the lady who sold it to the museum and they learn great things from her.

Though my hand writing is still not legible as many, my aptitude for reading is good. Reading has saved my life many time. Every time simple words don’t come to me in a conversation, I know that means turn the TV and Internet off and let the books pour into me. Thank you guys in Advance for your help!!! This should be fun.

Oh wait!!! Are there any plots (child, tween, teen, adult) of books that maybe I can help with? Leave them in the comments below.

As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms