Deenie is one of the few books for young people by Judy Blume that I missed when I was the right age to read them. This was in a book collecting 3 novels: It’s Not the End of the World, Then Again, Maybe I Won’t and Deenie, that I bought for my son. I decided to read it now, because I have Judy Blume on the brain with the movie adaptation of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret coming out. An important topic is that of parents exhorting their children to take up professions that the parents feel that are suited for them, whether or not the children are amenable to the idea. Thelma justifies her insistence that Deenie pursue a modeling career and that Helen become a doctor or lawyer by saying that she just "wanted better" for her children. I get frustrated when writers don't “assign” the right ages to their protagonists, and the 7th graders in this story were a lot more like 9th graders, and my 6th grader is a lot more like a 4th grader, so this was a read-aloud that required this mom to make a few detours. There are some fast 7th graders in this story: kids with mature speech who take city buses and talk of masturbation and being felt up and meeting with boys in dark closets. Showing the development from an uncaring child to one that understands pain is a useful tactic, but Deenie takes this so far as to be unbelievable. Her biting commentary and treatment of all those she sees as less than perfect left me squirming. Taken alone, Deenie’s comment that Old Lady Murray is “so ugly she makes me want to vomit” because of her curved spine could at least be dismissed as childish ignorance. It at least foreshadows her own condition.

Deenie | Book by Judy Blume | Official Publisher Page | Simon Deenie | Book by Judy Blume | Official Publisher Page | Simon

That week] I touched my special place practically every night. It was the only way I could fall asleep and besides, it felt good" [p.79 in the 2005 Laurel-Leaf edition] and "Usually I take showers and get in and out as fast as possible. But the hot water [in the bathtub] was very relaxing and soon I began to enjoy it. I reached down and touched my special place with the washcloth. I rubbed and rubbed until I got that good feeling" [p.129]. Deenie's mom has two daughters: the pretty one (Deenie) and the smart one (her older sister, Helen). That is who they are and their mom tells everyone that. The interesting thing is that it takes Deenie and Helen forever to be like, "Wait--that doesn't mean that Helen is ugly or that Deenie is stupid." (And honestly, it's so weird to see that dynamic play out. Helen has to get perfect grades but as long as Deenie doesn't fail, she doesn't get in trouble.) Much of my memory of childhood is fuzzy, but I remember exactly where Margaret lived in my elementary school library: the shelf it was on and the spot on the carpet where I spent oodles of time, cross-legged, reading it. I’m not sure I have ever wanted to own a book so badly. I had very few books at home, mostly inherited from my big sisters. And the purse-strings were tight in my family. So I didn’t ask. Maybe I knew my parents would balk at buying a novel they thought I would just grow out of. Maybe I was afraid to ask them for this particular book. Showing Deenie’s initial distaste towards people with disabilities and injuries is useful only up until a certain point, beyond which it felt highly superfluous. In all honesty, these comments were enough to make me question recommending the book. The heartfelt message of its conclusion, when juxtaposed against this hateful start, is diminished, especially for young readers living with scoliosis who would have to wade through the early hurtful comments before they come to see Deenie’s journey unfold. But, of course, Judy Blume would have seen right through that. Maybe she would have turned our conversation into some sort of counselling session. Ten minutes of comfort, but what good would that have been for this story?Daddy's Girl: Deenie's far closer to her father than with her mother, mostly because he doesn't police her diet and posture and gives her breathing room to be a kid. The only time he puts his foot down with her is when he insists that she wears the Milwaukee brace to Janet's party. Although Deenie is initially upset, she later comes to admit that he's right. This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.

DEENIE | Kirkus Reviews

When Deenie visits the hospital and is then X-rayed, her comments reflected my own experience as a child, from her hatred of the gown you have to wear to the feeling of time stretching out as you wait to be seen. While a minor point, this is admirable and shows the level of thought Blume put into the novel. In the novel, Margaret Simon, child of an interfaith but non-practising couple – Jewish father, Christian mother – develops a relationship with God. “ Are you there God? It’s me, Margaret,” the book begins. “ We’re moving today. I’m so scared God.” Deenie was always told that she was beautiful and destined to be a model. However, everything changed when her PE teacher noticed that her walk was off, and her skirt was lower on one side.Thelma Fenner— Deenie's mother. Telling just about everyone that "Deenie's the beauty, Helen's the brain," she pushes her daughters towards careers that she believes are best suited for them, whether they like it or not. Took a Level in Kindness: Deenie is quite popular at the start of the book because she's pretty, however she exhibits minor Alpha Bitch tendencies and looks down on the "handicapped kids" quite a bit. After she gets the brace and people start treating her differently, she grows to empathize with them much more, even if her condition is temporary and theirs is not. She also befriends Barbara, a girl in her grade who is ostracized because she has eczema. Janet Kayser— One of Deenie's best friends. She is selected for the cheerleading squad instead of Deenie. So Deenie has scoliosis and has to wear a brace. This makes her hideously self-conscious and imagine not just being a teenage girl having to wear a brace. Imagine having to be "the pretty one" and wearing a brace. This book, like many others written by Blume, has been banned in schools for themes deemed inappropriate for adolescents; in this case, talk about masturbation and sexuality. Deenie is on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000 at forty-sixth.

Judy Blume Books By Age and Reading Level | Time The Best Judy Blume Books By Age and Reading Level | Time

Barbara Curtis— A new friend of Deenie's; she suffers from eczema, which causes nearly everyone else to ostracize her. Deenie herself had not wanted to associate with Barbara initially, but having to be Barbara's partner in gym class allows Deenie to get to know her better. She is the founder and trustee of The Kids Fund, a charitable and educational foundation. She serves on the boards of the Author's Guild; the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators; the Key West Literary Seminar; and the National Coalition Against Censorship. Author Judy Blume points to a poster for the film adaptation of her groundbreaking young adult book. ROB O'NEAL/AFP/Getty Images Stage Mom: Deenie is blessed with not one, but two examples of this trope — her actual mother and "Aunt" Rae, who isn't Deenie's blood relative, but rather a close friend of her mother's — whose attitudes toward Deenie's scoliosis and its implications for her modeling career make her situation that much harder to take (both of them implying that Deenie herself is to blame for developing scoliosis). Deenie is relieved towards the end of the book when she realizes she probably won't become a model because of the brace and adds she never really wanted to be one anyway; it was all her mother's idea. Deenie Fenner— The main character. Thelma's plans for Deenie to become a model are in jeopardy when Deenie is diagnosed with scoliosis.

Helen Fenner— Deenie's older sister. Thelma exhorts her to keep up her grades, to the exclusion of all non-academic pursuits, in the hopes that she will eventually become a doctor or lawyer. At some point, I did acquire a copy of Deenie. In that novel, Blume wrote about Deenie touching her special place. Where was this place, I wondered. On her leg? Her shoulder?

Deenie - Wikiwand

Deenie is one of the Judy Blume books I didn't read as a kid, and I was absolutely in love with everything about this book. (She's named after Natalie Wood in Splendor in the Grass! Judy Blume never says the movie by name, but it's totally that one! [That's probably because you don't really want the target audience to look up a movie where the main character goes crazy because of sex, right?]) Aunt" Rae— Thelma's best friend. She follows Thelma's lead into pushing Deenie towards a modeling career.

Ages 9-11

Sadist Teacher: Deenie’s sewing teacher, Miss Wabash, who is “100 years old and very mean.” When Deenie had forgotten an assignment because she had gotten fitted into and was getting acclimated to her Milwaukee Brace over the weekend, Miss Wabash is unsympathetic. Not only does she consider Deenie’s excuse invalid, but she also says that she will only give half credit if Deenie does make up the assignment. This is your usual cautionary tale, of not being needlessly judgmental, because one day it could happen to you, mixed with a heavy dose of little girls can be anything they want, so stop pushing them into ready-made boxes. And on that note, let's hear three cheers for Helen, Deenie's older sister: the brains and empathy of the family.