‘Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret’ 50th Anniversary

Judy Blume. Her name means so much to Gen-X women. And maybe to Gen-X men? I know guys read the “dirty” parts of Forever and Wifey, but I’m not aware if they read more of her books with such fanfare as I did (several of her books had a male protagonist like ‘Then Again Maybe I Won’t’ ‘Freckle Juice’ and ‘Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing’). One Blume book that definitely spoke to girls was ‘Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret,’ which turns 50 this week.

A legendary teen coming of age book, ‘Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret’ was the book to read if you wanted to know about puberty. There weren’t websites to browse or message boards to ask questions. And with the Boomer generation as parents, at least the ones I knew, Gen-X kids weren’t exactly hearing much about the birds and the bees from the folks. Enter Judy Blume.

32 when ‘Margaret’ was published in 1970, Blume addressed issues that were on every teen’s mind: boys, bras and periods. While Margaret struggled with her self-esteem, tied up in if she would ever get her period, and had friends that were more confident than she- something I definitely related with.

Not all parents appreciated Blume’s candor with her storytelling. Here she talks about censorship and parents with Seth Meyers.

Blume was recently on the Today Show to discuss the ‘Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret’ 50th Anniversary, which you can watch here.

The impact of Judy Blume on my childhood can not be understed. She guided us through adolescence, made us feel better about our awkwardness, introduced us to new worlds. Truly, an ‘80s girl hero.