Forever by Judy Blume

This is a story about love. Kath and Michael met at a friend's New Year's Eve party. They start dating and the relationship becomes serious. Michael wants to take the relationship to the next level - sex. Kath isn't sure she's ready for sex. Or if Michael is The One she wants to lose her virginity to. Forever takes you on a journey of two teenagers in love, thinking that it's true love, and that they will be together forever. But at the age of 18, can you really find true love? Or is just your first love? One of many "loves" you encounter along the way to true love?

I remember reading this book when I was in middle school. The appeal at the time was that the book contained explicit material; in other words SEX! And bad language. This book was way different from the Sweet Valley High books I was reading at the time. One of my friends had the book and the book was passed around our little group of friends, from one friend to the next. None of us were bold enough to purchase the book on our own. Before Forever, I knew of Judy Blume through her YA (young adult) books - Blubber, Are You There God? It's Me Margaret and Superfudge. I was shocked to discover that Forever was more than just a story about a boy and a girl and teenage first love.

The reason why I thought about Forever was due to last week being Banned Book Week. I perused the list on the ALA's website and saw that Forever was on the list. I couldn't understand why. Yes, there's some language and sex in the book, but as I remembered, the story was more about Kath dealing with experiencing first love and the emotions and responsibility that comes with being in a relationship.  I decided that I would re-read the book. Maybe it was more explicit than I remembered.
I finished the book in two days. It wasn't that difficult to read. After reading the book as an adult I still don't understand what the hoopla is all about. Maybe I'm just more liberal thinking than the general population. I think that Judy Blume did a great job of portraying teenaged sex as an important decision that has serious consequences if you're not informed and protected. She did not glamorize sex. The message I got from Forever is that the decision to have sex is an important decision to make. The girl should not give in to the boy and shouldn't be pressured to do so. The consequences of unprotected sex can change your life forever.

Reading this book as a 12/13 year old girl did not make me want to have sex. It showed me that my virginity and my body was a treasure. And that it was my decision if I wanted to give that gift to someone. I knew that I wanted to be with someone who respected me and my decision to have or not have sex. I think that parents can use this book as a platform to have the dreaded sex talk with their children. It's better to have them informed with the right information than to leave them ignorant. The latter is more dangerous.

My rating: 5/5