then again, maybe i won't. judy blume. (289)

growing up, i loved judy blume.  my mom for some reason, maybe the cover with the boy with the binoculars made her suspicious, decided to read then again, maybe i won't.  when she was done, i was told i couldn't read it.  i assumed it had something to do with puberty or sex (though i had no idea what was truly involved with the later), but listened to my mom and never read it . . . until now!

then again, maybe i won't told the story of tony, a extremely sensitive little

boy, i mean he got stomach pains when he saw his friend do something morally wrong.  his dad striked it rich when he sold an electronic cartridge and tony and his family moved on up like the jeffersons.  however, tony learned the truth behind mo' money, mo' problems.

the person that makes it difficult was tony's mom.  by the way, reading all of these books, i wonder what kind of relationship blume and with her mother.  all of her mother's are overbearing and worry too much, especially about what others will think of them.  this was the case with tony's mom, she tried to hard to fit in and doesn't realize that just because you have money, it doesn't make your moral.  this was demonstrated by tony's neighbor, joel.  his mother, impressed by the joel's family, thinks joel is an angel, but that kid is a klepto and gets drunk!!  what a bad egg!

but what upset me the most was how her mom gave grandma the boot in the kitchen because of that maid! it broken my heart to see the mom have no backbone and for the grandma to lock herself in the room.  i wish that storyline had a happier ending but it never got resolved.

i have to add, i kept on waiting for the other shoe to drop.  tony's family was spending that dough but luckily it still continued to come in!

so what was my mom all stressed about me reading?  well, tony is going through puberty and so there is talk about masturbation and wet dreams.  however, i am pretty sure all of that would have gone over my head (see:  deenie).  tony is also a total perv and spies on joel's sister, lisa, while she undresses, which also never really got resolved either.  other than he realized he should stop doing it!

i have to add, there was a scene in which tony gets a hard-on while demonstrating a math problem at school and hides it with his book.  as i read that, it sounded familiar but it's kind of a common thing for boys to do.  i feel like the same thing may have happened to a friend in high school and he shared his story with me.

all in all, a good read for boys.  i told my mom maybe she should have my little brother read it.  she said she should read it to know what he is going through. lol

deenie. judy blume. (286)

i remember my friend chandra telling me to read deenie once on instagram, i told her i never read it, but i was wrong.  i had read deenie, just forgot what it was called.  i remember a story about a girl having to wear a brace, when i reread blubber, i thought the brace happened in that, but wrong again.  and to be completely honest, all i remember other than the brace was the making out in the laundry room with the brace on (what a pervy kid!)

so deenie was the story of a beautiful girl, deenie, that had scoliosis and had to wear a brace.  and i must say she was a better kid then i because she handled it very well.  there were some breakdowns but for the most part, she just dealt with it.  though that whole undershirt thing was weird.  but a great lesson for kids about having to deal with a handicap and also to be accepting of those with one as well.

i have to add that while deenie was a heat kid, her mother was the worse!  poor thing! i can not imagine having a mother like that.  it was horrible how the mom tried to blame the dad's family for her disease.  also all of the crying by the mom was too much, get a grip, lady! it was also sad how much pride she took in deenie's good looks.  i am glad helen stood up to her at the end, a mom should not live vicariously through their kids, but rather support their talents.  luckily, deenie and helen were more sensible then their mother.

okay, so now to the juicy stuff! so you know how people are always trying to ban books because of the sex stuff in them.  and one argument is that that stuff probably goes over the kid's head, well i am proof of that, because all of the talk about masturbation and sexual intercross went right over my head! as kid, i was turned on by the kissing, and had no idea what else was going on.  i probably assumed her special spot was on her stomach. lol. 

quick digression, at her talk, judy blume discussed how someone once thought her special spot was her elbow!

but yeah, deenie masturbating went over my head in elementary school.  though i have to add what wonderful advice for adolescence about masturbation.  it's normal!  i mean i didn't start until i was in high school, but saw nothing wrong with it and never felt guilty about it.  (i have mentioned this before.)

i will have to say that this is a must read for every girl and kudos to blume and deenie on the positive view of female masturbation!