Forever ...

This book came out in 1975, yet it's amazingly honest, comfortable, and sex-positive. Judy Blume presents sex not as a foreign thing or a sinful thing, but as a thing real teenagers do and talk about. It is neither preachy nor lenient, neither lewd nor prudish. In this story, sex just is what it is. She covers birth control, Planned Parenthood, pregnancy, abortion, and the emotional side to a physical relationship. Blume also does not pretend that a girl's first time is the way it is in other books (unbearably painful or unimaginably blissful, take your pick), nor is her first sexual partner the only one she will ever have in her life. Honest is the best way to describe this book. The main character, Katherine, becomes sexually active in a natural way, and makes real, natural decisions. I didn't read anything that was unrealistic or cliche. This was my first time reading it, and I definitely think this should be something girls read before making decisions about their bodies and their relationships.

i wasn't that crazy about this book. it felt like it was almost entirely dialogue and i couldn't tell that the characters cared about each other aside from them saying “i love you”. it felt like there wasn't a lot of emotion in the writing and it was incredibly fast-paced. also the synopsis on the back and what was made out to be the main conflict didn't happen until the last 40 pages of the book. wasn't crazy about it but it wasn't awful!

Judy Blume has a way of weaving her stories together that while I could predict where the story would ultimately end, I was surprised by the twists and turns along the way. Furthermore, she truly captures the awkwardness and silliness and beauty of first love in our youth. And while the book is from the mid 70s, the message of how impactful sex can be, the importance of saying no, and how messy first love can be stands the test of time. I also applaud Blume for tying sex education into the plot, and while as an adult I can clearly see what she is doing and why, I can appreciate the information she is sharing with her target audience. She doesn't shy away from the terminology, she instead embraces it and talks about it as a normal part of life, like we all should.