Author: Judy Blume
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Release Date: (first released) 1976
Pages: 178
Read it in: 2 Days
Source: Publisher
You can buy it on amazon.
Synopsis: Goodreads:
Katherine and Michael meet at a New Year's Eve party. They're attracted to each other, they grow to love each other. And once they've decided their love is forever, they make love. It's the beginning of an intense and exclusive relationship, with a future all planned. Until Katherine's parents insist that she and Michael put their love to the test with a summer apart..."Forever" is written for an older age group than Judy Blume's other novels for children. It caused a storm of controversy when it was first published because of its explicit sexual content. It was a book ahead of its time - and remains, after thirty years in print, a teenage best-seller. America's No. 1 children's author has written some of the best books of our time about real-life issues - family stress and pressures, what happens when your parents divorce, the problems of growing up and sexual awakening, bereavement - with insight, sensitivity and honesty. The response of readers all around the world continues to make her one of the best-loved writers ever published.
My Review:
I really enjoyed this book, though it was a little different compared to the books I've been reading recently. Katherine was a character that I'm sure many teenage girls could relate to. The idea of believing as though you've been in love before, yet not really knowing what it is, is something many girls go through. It isn't bad, it isn't unnatural; it's common.
I don't know what I expected when I was sent Forever in the post, I was sure it was written years ago? I was used to receiving books that were written recently or just published... So this was weird. But I suppose as my English Teacher, any book that stands the test of time - no matter how small - can be considered a classic in it's own right. So I was more than happy to read this book anyway.
Katherine (as I said before) is a teenager that is going through what a lot of teenage girls (and guys) go through also. Her first love. Her first time. Her first complication. Her first heartbreak. How many of us have actually experienced all of them? Point is, as teenagers you probably experienced them all! And you were probably just as clueless as Katherine was. No teenager, no matter how mature that teenager, really knows what they're getting themselves into when they find the person they love, when they lose their virginity, when they come across their first complication - abuse or an affair or any number of things - and no one can prepare themselves for their first heartbreak.
Katherine was a character with parents like any others, she was well thought out. I can see why even over 30 years on, Judy Blume is still a loved writer. When I first did my IMM a load of my older friends said 'I remember reading Forever when I was younger! I loved it!' - this just goes to show that Judy Blume was a great author, and those who read her books are fans and will most likely forever be fans.
It was a great book and the first short book I'd read in a while. It was a little weird for me to read however, I was uncomfortable in a few of the chapters whenever 'Ralph' was mentioned. Not because of why he was mentioned, just because of the fact that he had a name made it uncomfortable for me...
I was reading this at a time when I was a very happy chappy, and therefore in my notes I wrote:
Rating: 5/5
I don't think I agree with this rating anymore. So:
Rating: 4/5
