Another week has passed, and school is out in Fallon. I spent a good deal of last week signing my kids up for classes, camps, and activities here in our community, as well as putting up the pool in the backyard. As these daughters of mine get older (they are 11 and 13) the challenge of getting them to look up from their devices once in a while is no small task.
As much as I love to read, you would think that my kids would just be naturally ravenous for books, too. Sadly, but also in a way that is typical at their ages, they both merely tolerate reading. I hope that changes as they get older, but for now I do what any book-loving mama of tweens and teens would do. I force them. I bribe them. I spend hours curating collections of books hoping something speaks to them. I allow them to read things that others might not think are appropriate for their ages. That last one works especially well if I loudly announce that this book is so inappropriate and that they aren't allowed to even look at the cover as I casually leave it somewhere that it is easily scooped up by whoever is looking to sample some forbidden fruit. I do whatever it takes to get them reading.
One thing that seems to make a book more appealing to my 11-year-old is if it is somehow tied to a movie, which brings me to our book this week. She and I recently read Judy Blume's classic “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” together and it was just as great as I remembered it being when I was 11. There is also a new movie out with the same name and, believe it or not, it is just as good as the book. Judy Blume was involved in the making of the movie and I think that fact kept it pretty true to the original work.
Margaret is a pre-teen girl who has just moved from New York City to the suburbs, where she has to navigate new friends and a new school. She is noticing that not only is her body changing, but her ideas surrounding her views on religion and her spirituality are changing, too. So many 40-something book ladies like me cut their teeth on Judy Blume and revisiting it with my daughter has reminded me why. Blume speaks to kids and their moms like they are human beings. No subject is off limits or dumbed down, just discussed with honesty and humor that has stood the test of time. Even though it required her to look away from her phone or her YouTube videos, my daughter also loved the book and the movie and can't wait to try out some more Judy Blume books this summer.
I highly recommend reading with your kids, especially beyond the usual age. Find ways to connect with books together, even into their teen years. And if you don't have kids, or they are all grown up, or whatever else your circumstances might be, I highly recommend revisiting a book you loved when you were younger. Chances are you will enjoy it just as much as you did all those years ago. And as usual, come tell me about the books that made you a reader on Instagram @allison.the.reader where, as always, I will be reading and rambling daily.
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