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We are part of a group of librarian friends who have had an ongoing book club running for the last several years. Each “season” (we’re nerds) we pick a theme and each of us chooses a book within that theme for us all to read. Re-visiting some of our past themes, we’re once again reading books that have had film/TV adaptations and then comparing the two mediums. For this blog, we will post a joint review of each book we read for book club. We’ll also post the next book coming up in book club. So feel free to read along with us or use our book selections and questions in your own book club!
Book: “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret” by Judy Blume
Publishing Info: Bradbury Press, 1970
Where Did I Get This Book: The library!
Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound
What We Watched: “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret” (2023)
Book Description: Margaret Simon, almost twelve, likes long hair, tuna fish, the smell of rain, and things that are pink. She’s just moved from New York City to Farbrook, New Jersey, and is anxious to fit in with her new friends—Nancy, Gretchen, and Janie. When they form a secret club to talk about private subjects like boys, bras, and getting their first periods, Margaret is happy to belong.
But none of them can believe Margaret doesn’t have religion, and that she isn’t going to the Y or the Jewish Community Center. What they don’t know is Margaret has her own very special relationship with God. She can talk to God about everything—family, friends, even Moose Freed, her secret crush.
Margaret is funny and real, and her thoughts and feelings are oh-so-relatable—you’ll feel like she’s talking right to you, sharing her secrets with a friend.
Kate’s Thoughts
I missed out on so much classic children’s literature when I was little, because I basically jumped from the likes of “Goosebumps”, “The Babysitter’s Club”, and “Fear Street” to full on adult novels, without really touching any contemporary books that are long enduring classics. So I never actually read “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret” by Judy Blume when I was a prepubescent girl, which was probably the best time to read it. But thanks to book club, I had the opportunity to read it, now at forty years old! Better late than never?
And I really enjoyed this book! I actually kind of wish that I HAD read it as a pre-teen because there were so many things that I absolutely would have been able to relate to when it comes to Margaret. I was a girl who was worried about making friends and fitting in, and I was a girl who was raised without any kind of religion, really, outside of major Christian holidays celebrated in the most secular sense (we did go to Church for a month when my Mom convinced herself that we needed that community factor in our lives and then remembered pretty quickly that oh yeah, Church was NOT something ANY of us wanted to do, least of all her). And even though the book was written decades ago, I thought that it still has a lot of pertinent and timeless themes like friendship, peer pressure, burgeoning sexuality, and the way that families can be complicated, even if we don’t fully see the big picture as children. Margaret is very realistic in her anxieties, whether it’s fitting in, her crush on a boy who may not be seen as ‘cute’ by her friend group, her worries about not getting her period yet, or her existential crisis when it comes to her family’s approach to faith.
And I have to say, the film adaptation was actually better than the book! I think that is due, in part, to the way that not only do we see Margaret’s point of view, but we also see the POVs of her mother (played by a delightful Rachel McAdams) and her grandmother (played by the ICONIC Kathy Bates). It made the story all the more emotional seeing three generations of women trying to figure it out through crazy changes in their lives. It also wrapped up a few things that I felt were left a bit hanging in the book (I was far more satisfied with how the Laura storyline ended in the movie). I really, really loved it.
I am so glad that I finally read “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret”! What a charming and delightful book that still speaks to the anxieties of adolescence.
Kate’s Rating 9: A charming, incredibly relatable, and at times emotional coming of age story. I really enjoyed this one!
Book Club Questions
- Have you read “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret” before? If so, how does it compare reading it now? If not, what books were you reading as a pre-teen?
- Religion is a huge theme in this book. Why do you think religion and choosing one was suddenly so important to Margaret after not really thinking about it for so many years in New York City?
- When it comes to the adults in the book and in the movie, how did you feel that they were portrayed between the two mediums? Did you prefer one portrayal over the other?
- What were your thoughts on Margaret’s friend group in her new home?
- Do you think that this story could be updated to take place in the 2020s as opposed to the 1970s? Why or why not?
Reader’s Advisory
“Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret” is included on the Goodreads lists “Best Coming of Age Stories”, and “Friendship Between Girls”.
Next Book Club Pick: “Matilda” by Roald Dahl
The Library Ladies 
I only read one Judy Blume when I was a kid (Deenie) but I quite fancy giving this one a try as an adult, especially if the film is also worth watching.
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