The Fault in Our Stars (And a Lot of Crying)

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (January 10, 2012, Dutton Juvenile)
review by Laura Beutler, Bailey Kelsey, Kelly Lucas, and Kenzie Helene

When we join our valiant heroines, they are bent over their various computer screens. Laura is crunching on saltine toffees, her laptop sticky with chocolate. Bailey is pulling out chunks of her hair, trying to master all of the things. Kenzie is preparing for the batch of crazysauce college will serve up to her, and Kelly is...still at work. And then later, she comes home. But still. Their reading is done, and now it is time to talk The Fault in Our Stars, John Green’s much-awaited new novel.

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumors in her lungs... for now.

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumors tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

It would be impossible to have a full discussion of The Fault in Our Stars without actually DISCUSSING it, which means spoilers. So, if you have not read the book yet, tread no further!

Heartbreakers Heal Hearts, Too!

The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers by Lynn Weingarten (December 27, 2011, HarperTeen)
Review by Kelly Lucas

Once upon a time, a girl was playing around on Goodreads and saw a title by a favorite author. That title was The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers and that author is Lynn Weingarten. From that moment, I knew I HAD to read this book. No, seriously, I continued to pester Lynn and her publisher about Advanced Reader Copies until that fateful day: the day Lynn told me that I was receiving an ARC.*

Even though I was in the middle of reading two other books at the time, had loads of GRE studying to do, and my room was a mess, I began to read it right away. This almost never happens. I buy a book and it sits on my shelf for the next year before I have time to read it. Seriously, I *still* haven’t read The Last Little Blue Envelope and it’s been on my shelf since May. These things take time. Except, I had been waiting for SSH for almost a year, if not more.

The title doesn’t give you much and the summary on Goodreads is very vague. I had no idea what was going to happen in this book. I knew these girls were heart breakers, and I knew Lucy had recently had her heart broken, and this is why I love this book. LOVE. Not past tense, present. Reading SSH was such a joy to my day that I wish I was still reading it. Lynn’s voice in Wherever Nina Lies was so different from what I normally read. I fell in love with her writing then. Lynn has the gift of a story teller, except more so. You may think you’re sitting down with her books, but she’s actually there with you. She sits you down, cuddles underneath the blankets with you, and tells you the story like she had lived it herself.

Lucy is fifteen and in love her boyfriend, Alex. Typical, yes? Let’s continue. First day of sophomore year, she approaches Alex and, ohmygoodness, he breaks up with her. Lucy does what any girl would normally do, runs to the bathroom and cry. What Lucy didn’t know is that three girls have been paying a bit too much attention to her.

Olivia, Gil, and Liza invite her into their group to do one thing: make a boy fall in love with her in seven days and then break his heart to collect the tear. The catch? Once Lucy breaks a heart and drinks the magic potion, her heart will be unbreakable. Who would really say no to that? Lucy decides to go along with their plan, but use their magic to win back Alex instead.

Lucy is your typical 15-year-old girl who just had her heart broken. She wants to fix it and get her boyfriend back. While she’s very smart, she’s also a bit naive. Olivia, Liza and Gil are seniors and wish to share their knowledge of boys and how to make these boys not only like, but fall in love with Lucy. Lucy is using them while they in turn are using her. Honestly, they’re nut-jobs. If three girls had told me they had magic to make boys fall in love with them, I would have done the same thing Lucy did. Lucy was hurt and did not have another option. I felt for her because I had been there, not only when I was 15, but earlier this very year. I connected with Lucy as if I was her. This hooked me in and made me keep reading. I wanted to know how Lucy would get Alex back and if she really would. I wanted to know how she tackled the secret sisterhood and their witchy ways.

I can’t even begin to tell you how much I learned from this book about love. After dealing with a cracked heart, I was starting to heal. While it is a bit of a paranormal tale, I view it as a bit of a dating journal as well. No girl likes to have a broken heart and this book is your magic potion.




*That day’s joy ALMOST matched my joy for Pottermore. ALMOST. 


UPDATE: I totally forgot to tell you guys that we're doing a CONTEST. Just follow our blog and comment on THIS post and you'll be entered to win a copy of The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers! What else! I'll leave it open until the end of this year [Dec. 31, 2011]! 

CONTEST OVER! 

Congrats to Allison for winning! But stay tuned for more contests throughout 2012!

You Probably *Should* Read This Book

Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski (June 2011; HarperCollins Publishers)

A review by Kelly Lucas

If you know me, you’ll know that I tend to not... think before I do. So when I heard the title for Sarah Mlynowski’s newest book was Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn’t Have), I was, in a word, hooked.

I wanted to know what these ten things were and why they shouldn't have done them. When I want to know something, it will eat at me until I know. So on the train home the day I received Ten Things We Did at BEA, I opened it and started reading.

1 girl + 1 non-boyfriend boy + no pants = Kelly intrigued

I turned to page two and read, “why was I in bed with boy who was not my boyfriend without any pants on?” Okay, I was going to love this story. Besides the fact that my friends and I have a joke that I hate wearing pants, I knew April was my type of girl. The type of girl I would totally be friends with.*

While the first few pages are a great introduction to the story, the scene Sarah sets first actually takes place near the end, so as the chapter ends, I was full of questions. What was going on here? Why wasn’t April wearing any pants? Where was the boyfriend? As much as I loved Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn’t Have), it started out slow. Sarah took time to set up April’s story - and she has good reason for it.

Ten Things We Did is almost every 16 year-old girl’s dream world. April Berman’s father and step-mother are moving to Cleveland, but she doesn’t want to leave her Connecticut school, friends, or boyfriend. So her father agrees to let her stay and live with her best friend, Vi.  But Vi’s mother is the lead in the tour cast of Mary Poppins, which has just left to launch from Chicago! So with a lie to April’s father here, and a lie to Vi’s mother there, the girls begin living alone.

This is why April’s back story is important. We need to learn all about April’s life before she really starts living with Vi. Honestly, I was impatient. I wanted the goods! I wanted April to be alone with her boyfriend for them to have sex! I wanted to know why there was a strange boy in April’s bed! I wanted to know who this strange boy was!

So, I pushed through the back story, and like with every other Mlynowski book, I finally became addicted.

OMG, you guys. This book is super-mega-foxy-awesome.

I am very grateful that Sarah took her time with the pace of the first 100 pages, because all those details we learn are so important to the mystery, suspense, and joy that the end brings. Since I finished the book before the official pub date (Thanks, BEA!), I kept recommending it to my friends. This past week, I was very happy to receive this text: “omfg just finished ten things! amazing!!”

And it is at that. Actually, “amazing” may not even be the word. Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn’t Have) reminds me so much of The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen and 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson. Pure, honest, fresh... innocent. Can I say it’s innocent when April and Vi harbor a felon (#7)? Well, it is. Ten Things We Did is not just a love story; it’s a story where the main character grows up and learns that sometimes it’s good to do things you probably shouldn’t.

Sarah takes us on this crazy and funny story of the first time a teenager lives alone. It’s a dream world, right? April and Vi throw crazy parties (#8), cut school (#3), and of course, lie to their parents (#1). Nothing could go wrong. Right? Think again. With responsibility comes consequences.

Someone’s got to do the laundry...  

Living away from your parents is...well...not always fun. Sarah captures the honesty in what it is like to live away from your parents for the first time and the mistakes that are made. The little things Mom and Dad always do are now April and Vi’s responsibility. While Vi is used to it, April isn’t and it comes as a bit of a shock. Still, she’s unique, quirky, slightly awkward, but most of all, fun; all of these character qualities translate into a wonderful story. I laughed, I cried, I worried, and got to drool over two boys vying for April’s affection. These characters come alive in Sarah’s writing. Y’all know what I’m talking about, right? April’s story flows so perfectly. She is an amazing character and I loved her from page one. Sarah gives each of their character’s their own life, their own story, their own secrets, and their own individual voice. She doesn’t just create wonderful main characters, but wonderful, realistic supporting characters as well. Their voices are so diverse but stay consistent. Noah, April’s boyfriend, is written perfectly. He acts exactly like a 16-year-old boy and leaves you guessing and wondering from, again, page one. Why wasn’t he in the bed with her?

That, I think, is how a character should be written. You want to be friends with truly great people and characters and April, Vi, Marissa, Noah, Hudson and Dean are truly great characters.  You not only read about the crazy party, you’re there too, and get to (#9) help judge the Mr. Teen Universe Contest (yes, a MALE BEAUTY PAGEANT. I am not lying.)

We’ve all done things we probably shouldn’t have, but just like Sarah wrote in my copy, “DO IT!”

So go do something you probably shouldn’t**. It’s good for the soul.

And if you still want to know who was in bed with April, well... read the book. =)


*    Please don’t judge me.
**  Except if it’s illegal.  Illegal is BAD.  Do only LEGAL things.

Hey Printz Commitee--I Hope You're Paying Attention to This!

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly (2010, Delacorte Press)
Review by Laura Beutler

I am predisposed to love books. I think it’s because I love the act of reading so very much that, as long as what I’m reading isn’t overly offensive to me, I love it. Excessively. I’ve realized as I read and review books, how very fickle I am. My favorite book is constantly changing. Usually, it’s the one I’ve just finished.

Rarely, though, there comes a book that stands apart from the other favorites. These are books that have a spark, a something Other, that speaks to me. I can’t explain why I love them. I just do. It feels as if the author wrote their book just for me. I mean, clearly Diane Setterfield knew that if she wrote a novel about a woman who loved books, who discovered an amazing author when that author contacted her, who went off to a huge, empty house to interview this author; it would mean she’d written the perfect novel for one Laura Beutler (Yeah, The Thirteenth Tale was for me. Jealous?). The same goes for Elizabeth Kostova, who seems to understand exactly how obsessed I am with a good chunk of research. If a blank notebook had landed on my desk one morning, I would have filled it with notes too, as I tried to figure out what exactly the mark on the cover meant, who sent it, and why they wanted me to have it. She gets it, and that’s why she wrote The Historian. For me.*


When I find a book like that, I drop everything in my life.

No really. Everything.

Hey, it’s not like I’m doing anything that important anyway.)

It happened on Tuesday.

I’d snatched up a copy of Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly during my last trip to Barnes and Noble. I saw it sitting there, looking at me as if to say, “Read me, Laura…Read me!” As with all books, once I heard the call, I couldn’t resist. Moments later, I was photographing the cover while Rachael drove through Fort Wayne, sending the image to Bailey as I claimed the right to review it. Once home, I started reading, then impulsively closed the cover, put the book on my nightstand, and waited.

That’s because I could tell. I needed to have time for this book, time set aside just for it, so I could enjoy its utter perfection.

Tuesday, I read Revolution in one sitting.

Revolution is a masterpiece.

I don’t think I could adequately express to you exactly why it’s so perfect. But just putting it on a list of top ten books from 2010…feels like an insult. No matter how much I love the other books on those lists, and I do, not one of them can compare to Revolution.

I am in love with this book. In love with the narrator, Andi. In love with her broken heart, her music, her mother, and the key she wears around her neck. I love the diary Andi finds locked away in an ages-old guitar case. And I love Alex, who wrote the diary. And Alex’s fireworks--I love those, too.

Plot synopsis time:
Andi, who lives in present-day Brooklyn, is barely functioning. She takes antidepressants like candy, but they still don’t control her grief or her anger. Andi’s younger brother, Truman, is gone, and nothing can bring him back. Her life isn’t worth living now that he’s dead. By the start of winter break, she’s near expulsion from her elite private school. That’s when Andi’s father decides to intervene. He takes Andi to Paris, where she will stay with him as he assists his friend, G, with research.

Once in Paris, Andi finds the diary of Alexandrine, a street performer in Paris whose encounter with young Prince Louis-Charles changes her life forever. Alex chronicles her life during the horrific world of the French Revolution in the journal and conceals it in her guitar case. Andi is captivated by Alex’s diary, until one evening when she’s drawn into the story, moving into Alex’s world to face the terror firsthand.

What happens to Andi happened to me as I read Revolution. Alex’s world became more real to me than the room around me (or all the meals I skipped while reading). For a little while, I was in Paris reading that diary, munching fresh bread and living in a chilly made-over factory surrounded by the physical remnants of the Revolution.

There are a few books that I will always keep. They have a place of honor on my bookshelf, where they are arranged neatly, always at the ready so I can reread them at will. No one may borrow them, but I have extra copies to loan out, so I can still force others to read them. Their place on the shelf is permanent, even if I have to buy a bigger bookshelf to fit all my favorites.** Revolution has been added to this shelf.

I hope you all will read it and love Revolution as much as I do.

Endnotes:
*Sure, maybe you might think she wrote it for all of us. But you’re wrong. Clearly, she wrote it for me. But I’ll share.
**Does anyone else have a shelf like this, or books you love this much?

iSpeak

Hush by Eishes Chayil  (09.14.2010, Walker Books)

Guest Review by Kelly Lucas

About four months ago (mid-July for those who can’t do math like me), my supervisor at Bloomsbury USA* handed me the ARC of Hush by Eishes Chayil and said, “You have to read this book.” All I knew about Hush was that it was a story about a Chassidic Jewish girl in Brooklyn, and that Eishes Chayil was also a Chassidic Jewish woman. The cover and the title also leave little to the imagination: a young woman a is being hushed with a finger to her lips. It was not hard for me to put together that I was about to take a very in depth and emotional journey into a community that a few people know a little about. I began the book immediately on the train ride home, and finished it three days later.

Now that Hush has been released and you can find it in bookstores nationwide, I’m telling you: You have to read this book. Hush is a unique look into the Chassidic community; one that I’ve never seen before in other books or on television. Chassidic Jews value a strong community setting and this can lead to more isolationist tendencies. They have their own temples and schools in their community and it’s harder to get out than it is to get in. Going against this community is considered a sin because the Torah states that one should never say anything bad about another Jew.

Eishes’s voice is shockingly real. In the very beginning Gittel, the main character and narrator, describes to the reader that her community is the best community of all; that they are better than all the other Chassidic Jews, and are especially better than other conservative or  reform Jews. At first this disturbed me, but I realized that Gittel, and Eishes, didn’t know any different. Hush must be read with the acknowledgement that Gittel and the people in her community were raised to think in this way about themselves and other Jews. However, this does not mean that all Chassidic communities or other Jewish communities have this mentality. This is one tragic case that is, unfortunately, based on a true story.

 
The semi-autobiographical story is told in two parts: in 2003, when Gittel is ten, and in 2010, when Gittel is seventeen going on eighteen. The two voices created in this time-split narration are surprisingly believable. Ten-year-old Gittel has an innocence that comes through in her speech. When a tragedy occurs, she becomes confused as everything is hushed and ignored by the community and she doesn’t know how to handle it except by following their lead. Seventeen-year-old Gittel has become a young woman going through the process of engagement and marriage, but is harboring a pain she needs answers to-- except, she can’t get them. The her own parents and the community continues to hush her and ignore the problem.

I’m obviously not going to tell you what the tragedy is, Eishes’s storytelling is too powerful for it to be ruined** - so DON’T read any summaries online and avoid the description on Amazon***. Hush is one of those books where you laugh, cry, and want more at the end. I loved turning page after page, learning more about Gittel’s story and the Chassidism’s traditions. She takes you through Passover, Purim (my personal favorite Jewish holiday), Channukah and so much more. You even learn why Eishes chose her pseudonym (yes, it’s a pseudonym). “Eishes Chayil” means “woman of valor” and she truly is one. I don’t know what would happen if her community found out she wrote this, but it would not be good. The issue Eishes discusses is powerful and important and one I greatly care about-- which is why I chose this book in particular. Gittel, also a woman of valor, learns that it is important to stand up and fight, and not remain silent.

 
Eishes could not remain hushed and spoke, or rather wrote, out. I am following in their footsteps and speaking out too.**** No one’s going to tell me to hush, and no one should tell you either. So, for Eishes Chayil, Gittel, and everyone who is effected in the real life story, go read Hush. Speak out with us.


End Notes:

*I was fortunate enough to be an intern in the Marketing/Sales department this past summer at Bloomsbury US (which is how I came to enable Laura with her ARC of The Mockingbirds).

 
**I cried when I found out. I cried about four different times throughout the book. THAT’S how awesome this is.

 
***Seriously, I didn’t know and it was....magical. Too many emotions ran through me to even describe.

****Actually, I’m very active in speaking out, but we’re going to ignore that for right now. 

You Should Start Looking for Space on Your Bookshelf NOW

The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney (11.02.2010 by Little, Brown and Company)
A review by Laura Beutler

I keep getting the BEST MAIL EVER!

Guess what I got!

No—guess.

Come ON—what did I get?

Fine. Whatever. I’ll tell you.

Months ago, I sat at my computer at the library and read pre-published buzz about a book. This book, the reviewers said, was very good. Very very good. I heard whispers about what powerful prose the book had. I heard it compared to Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson… That’s high praise indeed.

One night, suddenly, when I saw the name of the book again, I decided there was no other option. I had to get my hands on the book. No. Matter. What.

Naturally, I did the only thing possible in such a circumstance: I whined on Twitter.
“Twitter!” I begged. “I need an ARC of The Mockingbirds by @DaisyWhitney! @littlebrown—HELP”

The begging went on for several hours. I was really quite pathetic, and rather annoying. (Bailey can attest that this went on until quite recently and was, in fact, pathetic. But not annoying because she, too, has been this pathetic.) But desperation does funny things to me, and if other people get to read exciting new books before I can get my hands on them…I start whining*.

Daisy Whitney was sympathetic. My twin**, Kelly, took pity on me. Turns out, when Kelly was working in publishing, she had scored tons of ARCs and one of them was The Mockingbirds! She agreed to send it to me, thus winning my eternal love and adoration.
I read The Mockingbirds in one sitting. I didn’t move until it was done.

The second I had finished, I went over and put my copy right next to Speak on my bookshelf, where it belongs.

The Mockingbirds is quite simply the most beautiful, powerful novel I’ve read in ages.

TEENSY SYNOPSIS TIME

Alex attends Themis Academy, an elite boarding school with an administration that expects students to follow the school’s honor code and manage their own behavior. The trouble is, the honor code alone isn’t enough to keep students safe from each other. When Alex is date-raped during her junior year, her friends take her to meet with The Mockingbirds, a secret society dedicated to right the wrongs of Themis.

From her first meeting with The Mockingbirds, Alex struggles with the trauma of what she’s been through and the ridicule of other students. Alex is an amazing protagonist—the pinnacle of what a strong female character should be. She doesn’t allow herself to be abused; instead she trusts her friends and seeks help when she needs it. I love Alex.

Personally, I think every girl should have a copy of The Mockingbirds and a copy of Speak. Preferably more than one, because I am a strong believer in having extra copies of books that inspire so I can give them away when people I know need them!

So, when I opened a package from Little Brown, and Company and discovered another ARC of The Mockingbirds, I instantly formed a plan. (And I have to say--two copies of The Mockingbirds delivered to my door? Now you understand, right? Best. Mail. Ever.)

The plan grew when I opened a note from Daisy Whitney, who must be getting some enjoyment out of my obsession with her book. She sent me a bookplate, signed to me, along with official The Mockingbirds bookmarks!

THE PLAN

I’m GIVING one of YOU an ARC of The Mockingbirds, along with a fancy Mockingbirds bookmark! Two more of you will get a The Mockingbirds bookmark.

(Psst…This giveaway is open to readers in the USA only, guys, because I’m a poor librarian.)


The contest for these cool prizes begins Monday, November 15 and runs through Monday, November 22 (midnight EST).  ONE (1) entry is placed in the Contest Hat by leaving a comment below; ONE (1) entry in placed in the Contest Hat for tweeting or RT'ing about the contest on Twitter with the hashtag #MHLitContest; and FIVE (5) entries are placed in the Contest Hat for doing something creative.  


Full rules, regulations, and reminders for contests can be found HERE.  Be sure to read over that information before entering. 


PHOTOS OF MY AWESOME MAIL

End Notes:
*Publishers—to shut me up, the easiest thing to do is to send me an ARC of the book in question! Plus, I have a Kindle! So it will be easy for you to just send the e-book my way, and since it’s digital, you know I’ll buy the hardcover the second it’s released anyway! I tend to do that. My bank account complains, but what does it know?

**Kelly and I didn’t grow up in the same home or anything, and we’ve never gone through any kind of genetic testing to prove our twin-ness, but we are clearly twins.

Are You There Title? It's Me... Bailey

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume (published 1970, Yearling)

A review by Bailey Kelsey

I got a little story for you, readers!

When I was almost twelve, I was Margaret Simon.  I don't care that Blume's Margaret Simon was almost-twelve in 1970 and that I was almost-twelve in 2000.  There are several dozen social and political differences that make the time when Margaret Simon was almost-twelve and when I was almost-twelve very different.  

I am twenty-two. I just read Blume’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret for the first time. And while I was reading it, I kept asking (out loud, of course, and yes, I was alone in my apartment. No, I don’t see a problem with that) “Why on EARTH didn’t I have this book when I was ALMOST-TWELVE?!” So what if my neighbors thought I’d gone off the deep end, shouting about books while alone in my apartment-- This was an important question! I’ve been looking for an answer to it all week. Why didn’t I have this book, and what kind of an impact would it have had on my life had I been given a copy? Let’s take a look back, shall we?

Here are the facts of my almost-twelve life:

I had no religion. I remember calling my friend in the sixth grade and asking if she wanted to start a religion with me because "I wasn't born into one."  She informed me that she had been born into a religion and that her God didn't want her worshipping anyone besides Him. Aside from being forced into starched dresses for Easter and Christmas services at my grandparent’s church*, this was my first introduction to religion. And it was that she had a god and I... didn’t.

Margaret struggles with understanding how and why people feel a need to form religious communities to talk to and reach and understand God, because she has always spoken to God right inside her head, and felt his responses right in her soul.  Margaret's naivety and separation from any one religion is a necessary reminder that God is not a religion.  God is a power, an entity, a something that exists first WITHIN each of us.

*I don't really think that these attendances, or my subsequent begging not to attend church services, should really count into my religious experience.  I was a small child.  The two most unparalleled evils in the world were putting on a velveteen dress and tights, and then being forced to SIT STILL for what felt like HOURS ON END.  I have since removed these memories from my outlook on all things religious.

I was small.  If you haven't read the book, by small Margaret is referring to having small breasts.  This still remains true about me, but unlike when I was almost-twelve, I don't get made fun of for this at twenty-two.  I was mercilessly teased at almost-twelve.**
Margaret prays to God throughout the book that He will help her grow.  I must say, praying to God didn't even OCCUR to me at almost twelve, but in hindsight maybe it should have.  However, that chant the Four PTS's (the Pre-Teen Sensations!) repeated throughout the book? We must--we must-- we must increase our bust!?  Oh yeah, my mother taught me that when I was almost-twelve; my friends and I definitely did that one.  Not sure that ever helped, but nature and maturity did eventually just take over.

**A short story:  I was so mercilessly teased by a particular girl in the seventh grade (she started a rumor that I stuffed my bra) that the school threatened to move one or both of us from the middle school locker room to the high school locker room.  She dropped the rumor and I stopped crying about it because high school girls were a threat of mutual destruction to us.  We stayed in the middle school locker room; thus began our subtle destruction tactics of one another.

I kept a boy book. Oh yes, I did.  With my best friend, who shall remain nameless here.  But we called it something different (something less original, but also, less obvious).  We used to map out plans in that book.  We would pass it back and forth each weekend-- she'd have it one week, I'd have it the next week, etc.  We would talk on the phone for hours at night, or AIM later on, and whoever had the book would record our plans.  There were plans about getting crushes to birthday parties; how to rig Spin the Bottle so we'd kiss said crushes; rankings of the cutest boys in our grade; first date plans; get ex-boyfriends back plans.***
Margaret is required to keep a boy book by the rules of the Four PTSs.  However, Margaret is never completely honest about her boy book because she has a crush on her friend's older brother's friend.

***We still have that book.  We now mail it back and forth, and we still plan.

Here in the Present...

I knew the life that was laid out before me at twelve was vastly different from the life laid out before Margaret Simon.  And yet, reading this book at twenty-two, I ached to have had it at almost-twelve.  Of all the things I LIKE about Margaret, of all the parallels I can draw between her sixth grade experience and my sixth grade experience, the thing I like most about Margaret is that she keeps things private. She is learning how to be her own person, and she turns inward, as well as outward, in learning who she is.
Margaret believes throughout the book that personal secrets and private moments are important.  She wonders a few times whether or not the other girls’ are keeping the same sorts of secrets, but its a curious wonder not a judgmental wonder.  The difference in that is important.
There is a level of honesty and curiosity with which Margaret faces the world.  This doesn't make the challenges of a pre-teen any easier, but it does make her a good role-model character.

I may not have had the guidance of Margaret Simon at twelve to let me know I was normal, but it's nice to know, in hindsight, that I was.