Deenie

Deenie by Judy Blume
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"My mother named me Deenie because right before I was born, she saw a movie about a beautiful girl named Wilmadeene, who everyone called Deenie for short"

I grew up reading Judy Blume ... loved her stories... & wanted to go back & read some of them again. See if she was everything I remembered.

I actually didn't read Deenie growing up so this was a new story to me. The story of a 7th grader who is beautiful. So beautiful that her mother is sure she will be a model one day. But something is wrong with Deenie.... she is discovered to have scoliosis. Her spine is growing out of shape.

To a middle school girl - this is devastation. Having to wear a brace? For 4 years?
Deenie is surrounded by her friends Janet & Midge but everything is always so dramatic in middle school. Almost feels like life could end.

It was funny to read back & see the dated things in the book. When Deenie finds out what she has, she runs to her encyclopedia to find the answers... that made me laugh. Yes, I'm back in the 80's again :)

& the memory of what being young felt like again... "Maybe we'll make the Olympics together"... oh the dreams you have with your childhood friends.

One thing I remembered reading this about Judy Blume's style - she's very open with teaching young readers about sexuality. Topics that young readers would never talk about in open, but maybe find they're not alone by reading it in a book made for them.

I zoomed through this book... less then 24 hours... makes me want to get more of the Judy Blume books & relive my childhood again.
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Daddy called me at 11:30 & as I got into the car he asked what was in the shopping bag. I told him, "Something I thought I might need for the party, that I didn't need after all"

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