This is not the type of book I would choose to read, but I have heard so much about it, I finally decided to see what it was like. To me, it seemed like a guide to sex at a reading level for ages 11-14. It does imply that a person should consider birth control and venereal disease before having sex. It also suggests you shouldn’t let someone pressure you into sex. A minor character who became pregnant chose to give her baby up for adoption, keeping her pregnancy secret for as long as she could in order to avoid being pressured into abortion. ( )

Well, one thing you can say about this book is that when someone reviews it, they can sure reveal a lot about themselves. For example, one reviewer said that this book is pornographic. Another said it's totally predictable. Another said it's pretty tame compared to what real teens do today. Some people react by putting their fingers in their ears and crying "Abstinence! Abstinence!" Others will tell you that Judy Blume helped them understand how to have sex responsibly. You know an author has really struck a chord when she inspires such strong and varied reactions.

So here's my reaction to this book: It's not pornographic, but it's graphic. Pornography, by definition, is intended to stimulate. The detailed sex scenes in this book are, I think, not intended to be stimulating--they're necessary for the book to work. How can you write a book about a girl's first sexual relationship without writing about the sex? It's not gratuitous, it's honest. And graphic.

I didn't think the story was predictable, either. In the middle of the story, I thought the point was that teenagers can fall in love and it can be real and strong. But by the end of the book, Blume had actually pulled the rug out from underneath her heroine Kath. We see that teenagers rarely know themselves well enough to make big promises like "I'll love you forever."

The book is certainly dated, but Blume's right when she says in the preface to the newer editions that feelings don't really change. I think a lot of girls today struggle with the same decisions Kath struggles with. No one wants to be a tease or a prude. No one wants to rush into something they're not ready for. Man, it's freaking difficult to be a teenager. Your body is ready for things your heart isn't. Everyone has an opinion about what you should or shouldn't do. Reading this book made me glad to be an adult.

So I would definitely recommend this book to teenagers who are thinking about having sex, or already having it. It certainly wouldn't do any harm, and could just possibly help them make up their minds about their own tough decisions. ( )

i am so impressed with this, honestly. in 1975 to write a book that is so open about so many things that no one was talking about, brava! i so appreciate how she's talking about sex -especially the first time having it, birth control, abortion, female pleasure, adoption, and more. she also (i'm loving this lately in books) has a very close family with good relationships between the kids and parents and between the siblings. there is trust and honesty as well as conflict and it is realistic and works.

i was reading this at the same time as i was reading a book about other high school seniors, all of whom were having sex all over the place. i think both depictions are true and important. i'm sure it's still true that there are high schoolers not super familiar with sex and this is a really sweet look at how it might feel to discover it for the first time. i wasn't 100% sure how i was supposed to read michael; he cared about katherine and i think he really was okay waiting but also he pressured her into it, but in a less overt way. i didn't love that but it's probably really realistic.

i thought she did a really excellent job here, and the narrator was also great. (3.5 stars)

from feb 2008: 2 stars ( )

Well I think this is another book that I'll have to give to my niece and nephews when they become teenagers. ( )

I read this book after picking it up at the library for Banned Book Week, and because it was one of the current selections of the Banned Books group on Goodreads.

I'm clearly not the target audience. This book was quick, simple, and quite predictable. It's also realistic and honest about the up and downs of first loves, as well as some of the trials of simply being a teenager about to leave childhood behind (I'm not so far removed from that age that I forgot what it was like). The book is good for it's honesty and not sugarcoating the awkwardness of the characters' experiences, and frank descriptions of awkward first sexual experiences, which was the reason this book was banned.

Still, I'll grant that the book isn't targeted at my demographic, so I could only merely "like it" (3 stars). I read it was curiosity as well a duty to stand against censorship, otherwise I probably would have never read it. Overall, it's not bad and I don't regret taking the time to read it, but it's not really a great book either. But it is truthful and honest, and that's a plus for me. ( )