Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Getting your period really isn’t anything to be excited about, Margaret

Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

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#CBR11 Bingo: Banned/Challenged (has been on the list among the most banned/challenged books for several decades now) Margaret Simon, almost twelve, has just moved from New York City to the suburbs, and she’s anxious to fit in with her new friends. When she’s asked to join a secret club she jumps at the chance. But when the girls start talking about boys, bras, and getting their first periods, Margaret starts to wonder if she’s normal. There are some things about growing up that are hard for […]

If nature has made you for a giver, your hands are born open, and so is your heart

Blubber by Judy Blume

Freckle Juice by Judy Blume

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

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This post brought to you by: Books I listened to while playing a ninja video game and prepped my bathroom for painting! A Little Princess I am certain I have read this one before, and if I haven’t I have certainly seen the movie. The author’s bio for this one is kind of funny to me because it makes the claim that Little Lord Fauntleroy is her most famous book, and I imagine that might have been true at various points, but clearly The Secret […]

In the world according to Garp, we are all terminal cases.

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The World According to Garp – 4/5 Stars I am trying to figure out books from the late 1970s and early 1980s, because it’s like the first time that authors really wanted to dig into sexual politics in some ways that are interesting, definitely alarming, but also handled with a kind of lack of care, or certainly a different context. This book was a huge hit when it came out and won several awards. It’s generally very good, but there’s a weird weird weird scene […]

Judy – love ya. Love this one? Not so much.

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As a woman in my 30s, I am definitely aware of the presence and significance of Judy Blume. And the fact that she recently celebrate her 80th birthday! (You hang in there, Judy). I read all the classics in my youth and read Summer Sisters a few years ago. I remember the former being formative and the latter not really at all, and that should have been an indicator of how I would feel about this book: a resounding shoulder shrug. I would say I […]

These books taught me more about life than any middle school health class.

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I remember the summer that I discovered the “older” section of my local library’s children’s department. It had books by authors like Paula Danziger, Lois Duncan, and the goddess Judy Blume. I tore through them all between 4th and 6th grade (and then moved on to Stephen King). And while I knew that I loved these books, I also knew that I didn’t quite understand everything going on in them. Until health class. And then I understood more than I bargained for. Honestly, Judy Blume […]

“Life is a series of unlikely events…”

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I love Judy Blume. I love her with the same passion I love Paula Danziger and Cynthia Voigt. Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret? and Blubber remain two of my all time favorite books, and I love gifting Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing to young readers. For Pete’s sake, I had a crush on Peter, Fudge’s big brother, when I was about eight. He was my first book boyfriend. But…I didn’t love this book. In the winter of 1952, the small town of […]



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