Plot: Margaret Simon is eleven going on twelve. She has just moved from New York to a new public school in New Jersey. Margaret claims that she is no religion, but she secretly talks to God when no one is around. Her new friends in New Jersey think she needs to find a religion so she can go to the Y or the Jewish Community Center. Margaret and her new friends start a secret club where they discuss boys, wearing bras, and finally getting their period. Margaret talks to God whenever she feels she is not a normal eleven, almost twelve year old girl, when she feels betrayed, and whenever she is looking for guidance. Margaret is a great narrator and tween girls everywhere will relate to the things she experiences throughout the novel.
Review: Margaret Simon is a very relatable character that any girl going through puberty will love as a narrator. She is very open and shares all of her inner thoughts with the reader. Margaret has a feeling that she is not a normal eleven year old girl. She thinks that her period is never going to come and that she will never develop breasts. Many tween girls have the same concerns at this age. This book has been in circulation for over 40 years and will remain in circulation due to the content that it covers. This is a great book to suggest to any tween girl looking for a realistic book.
Genre: Humor/Frienship/Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Interest Level: ages 9 and up
Related Books: Lauren Myracle Eleven Series; Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul
Characters:
Margaret Simon is the narrator and protagonist of the novel. She's an only child, who is going through puberty and trying to find a religion.
Barbara Simon is Margaret's mother who is a christian. She is an at-home mom.
Herbert Simon is Margaret's father who is jewish. He works in New York in insurance.
Sylvia Simon is Margaret's grandmother who is jewish and lives in New York City. She and Margaret have a very close relationship.
Nancy Wheeler is the first friend that Margaret makes in New Jersey. She lives down the street and starts the secret club that Margaret and the girls are in.
Janie Loomis and Gretchen Potter are Margaret's other close friends in New Jersey and are members of the secret club.
Moose Freed mows the Simon's lawn and is Margaret's secret crush.
Awards/Honors:
- 1980 Great Stone Face Award, New Hampshire Library Association
- 1979 North Dakota Children's Choice Book Award
- 1976 Young Hoosier Award, Indiana Media Educators
- 1975 Nene Award from the Children of Hawaii
- 1970 Outstanding Book of the Year, New York Times
- 2005 Time Magazine All-Time 100 Novels List
Author Information can be found here.
