First off, I thought I'd try a new picture format for the challenges. I tried taking a selfie of me reading, and I realized I have Bitchy Reading Face.
So, that's neat.
ANYWAY.
I started the year off with my good pal, Judy Blume and her three books on my Throwback to the Books list.
It's Not the End of the World is actually the first Judy book I ever read, and I haven't read it in at least 25 years. I received it for Christmas one year (along with Otherwise Known as Shelia the Great), and this book ignited my love of all things JB.
I remembered Karen being much older. She wasn't. She was 12 and navigating so much. To be honest, this book is kind of a bummer read - It focuses on divorce, Karen assigns grades to her days (with many straight up awful ones), she tries to get her parents back together, and she's just trying to figure out her new normal. At the same time, the serving of realness that is offered is so needed and refreshing on the topic.
Otherwise Known as Shelia the Great is a book I've re-read often. I have always loved Shelia Tubman. I love her because she's flawed. She's got lots of fears and irrational concerns, but she also just wants to fit in and be "normal."
Trekking back through this one, it clicked that the feature of my tween diary (that has thankfully been destroyed) where I made lists of the top ten boy rankings I had each week were inspired by Shelia and her friends' notebooks. Oh, crushes. . .
It's always fun to re-read this one, and this round was no different.
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret is just the best. Margaret navigating adolescence is so much truth and feels, and I appreciate its honesty every time I read it. Now that I'm far beyond adolescence (thank goodness) and can look back at that time and not cringe, I forever love how this book takes on the questions we all had, but didn't know how to ask.
Also, I just did some math, and this book will be FIFTY in three years. I'm going to end with that because #mindblown.
