A Book review by Andrew Pulau Evans aka the Pickleball Librarian
As a male, I overlooked a lot of the magic of Judy Blume. Most of her books focus on female characters. She also happens to be one of the most banned authors! So I decided to pick up some of her books and read them. I’m glad I did!
“Forever” is a classic for young adults. I’m looking forward to watching the series inspired by the book on Netflix. In the meantime, I highly recommend the book.
Judy gave me a front row seat to a young woman’s first relationship. It really took me back to my teen years. The word forever was thrown around a lot back then. All of us never had a concept of what it was.
Before this book was published in 1975, most books involving pre-marital teenage sex result in awful things happening to the women. According to Judy, these are “two nice kids who have sex without either of them having to die.” They are from loving homes being responsible and using birth control. They were making their first adult decisions. This was cutting edge. Judy was way before her time.
The scene where young lovers were breaking up was very intense. I saw myself as the person getting broken up with. At the same time, I also saw myself as the person doing the breaking up. Young love is so complicated, and there’s no way to see the future and what forever brings.
At the end of this book, I thought about a lot of my friends who reunited with their young loves. I guess in some way they get to see what forever is.
This banned book does have some sex scenes, but they aren’t overly graphic. They are there in the context of seeing what an eighteen-year-old’s first sexual experiences are like. Judy also introduced generations of readers to Planned Parenthood.
A lot of sexual activities are less than a paragraph long. However, a lot of deep issues are explored, including death of a relative, abortion, teen sex, drug use, and suicide. All these are issues that teenagers will face! All these are issues all of us will face!! This is real life!!!
This is a perfect book for a young person who is in a relationship to read! Statistics say only 5% of us are still with our high school sweethearts. I think this book gives a realistic portrayal of how young love and life flows.
I remember a young person being involved with his first serious relationship. I didn’t think they were a good match. If I knew about this book then, I would’ve handed him a copy. Thankfully, the relationship ended.
Judy assures us this is okay. It’s okay if our first love is not forever. It’s also okay to have an adult relationship as long as precautions are taken.
