It’s Me, Margaret, on the Big Screen
American author Judy Blume poses with actresses Abby Ryder Fortson and Rachel McAdams at the premiere of the motion picture film adaptation of her novel Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret on April 15, 2023.
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Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret is finally a movie! American author Judy Blume long hesitated to license the novel for a motion picture adaptation because she was afraid it would not make a good movie. She changed her mind! On April 28, 2023, the motion picture adaptation of Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret was released. The film stars American actress Abby Ryder Fortson as Margaret, Canadian actress Rachel McAdams as Margaret’s mother, and American actress Kathy Bates as Margaret’s grandmother, among other talented actors.
Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret is a coming-of-age novel. Bradbury Press published Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret in 1970. Many people considered the book controversial for its light and comedic approach to serious subjects such as puberty and organized religion. Judy Blume is known for writing humorous, realistic books for children and adults. She is best known for her novels about middle-class children, like Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. These novels discuss problems of young people from their point of view and in their own language.
The story follows 11-year-old Margaret Simon as she navigates her parents’ mixed-faith marriage and her own maturing body. Margaret’s mother grew up Christian, while her father is Jewish. In the beginning, Margaret and her family move from New York City to the suburbs in New Jersey. For a school project, Margaret studies religious beliefs as a child raised without a religious affiliation. She attends Jewish services with her father’s mother but prefers to address God directly through prayer, often starting with, “Are you there, God?” Margaret and her friends form a secret club called the Pre-Teen Sensations. The girls obsess over the mysteries of puberty.
Judy Blume has many other books! The antics of a younger brother nicknamed Fudge in Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (1972), Superfudge (1980), Fudge-A-Mania (1990), and Double Fudge (2002) are popular with younger children. In Then Again, Maybe I Won’t (1971), a boy faces similar problems of young people. Tiger Eyes (1981) focuses on the pain of losing a parent through death. As Long As We’re Together (1987) tells about three girls and how one of them deals with her parents’ divorce. Blume wrote about the same three girls in Here’s to You, Rachel Robinson (1993).
American author Judy Blume has written many successful books for children, young adults, and adults.
Credit: AP Photo/Suzanne Plunkett
Blume’s books are often criticized for their subject matter and frank language. Defenders of Blume’s books praise her ability to write openly and sympathetically about the concerns of young people in an enjoyable and easy-to-read style.
Blume has written a series of books for young readers about an 8-year-old girl named Abigail (the Great One) and her 6-year-old brother Jake (the Pain). The series includes The Pain and the Great One (1985), Soupy Saturdays with the Pain and the Great One (2007), and Cool Zone with the Pain and the Great One and Going, Going, Gone with the Pain and the Great One (both 2008). Letters from young readers and Blume’s comments on them were collected in Letters to Judy (1986). Blume has written four novels for adults. They are Wifey (1978), Smart Women (1983), Summer Sisters (1998), and In the Unlikely Event (2015). Judy Sussman was born on Feb. 12, 1938, in Elizabeth, New Jersey. She married John M. Blume, an attorney, in 1959.
