Monday, September 1, 2014

Penny's Writing Chat and Book Reviews

 

 Marvelous Middle Grade Monday - Judy Blume, Author and Social Commentator

Yes, I'm still reading Judy Blume.  I just finished Its Not the End of the World, a ‘tween’s perspective on her parents getting a divorce. Karen, is the middle child like I was. She has an older brother Jeff like I had, and she has a younger sister—I had a younger brother. This book would surely have helped me at whatever age to deal with my parents’ divorce.

 

Divorce totally changes your world as a child. One day you’re a member of a family and then the family is torn apart by divorce. It’s hard for kids to understand and accept. Ms. Blume tells it from Karen’s perspective. Karen wants to put her family back together. If only her parents would remember how much they loved each other in the beginning. If only they could be happy together again. But it’s not to be. The divorce drama plays out with friends’ comments and concerns, with other family member’s opinions and problems, and the resulting impact on Karen and her siblings.

 Product Details

Out of the ashes of the marriage, the family must forge new relationships. The father moves out. The mother gets a job. The family home has to be sold. The kids will move and go to different schools, so they’ll leave their old life completely behind and everyone starts fresh. 

The parents have to change and move on with their lives, but do they have to force the kids to move, too? If the parents can maintain some semblance of normalcy, it’s better for the kids. Keep the children with their friends, at their same schools, and close to their old neighborhood for as long as you can. It won’t be the same, but moving children is as disruptive as the disintegration of the marriage and the family unit. Thanks to Judy Blume for more insight into this ever increasing American problem of divorce—broken relationships and broken families. It's as appropriate now as it was in the 1970s and 1980s.
 Product Details

 http://www.judyblume.com

**********
Tags:  It's Not the End of the World, Judy Blume, Tween books, Middle grade books, divorce, family changes, marriage ending, pain, hurt, new beginnings

1 comment: