My first book review will be a classic written back in the 1970's.

Blume, J (1976). Forever. New York: Pocket Books. 220 pages.

Grade Level: 9-12

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Themes: Young Adult relationships, Sex, Suicide, Homosexuality, Birth Control, College

Main Characters: Katherine, Michael, Erica, Artie, Jamie (Katherine's sister) Katherine's Parents

Plot Summary:

Katherine is a senior in high school, she meets Michael at a New Year's Eve party and a relationship begins between the two. The book continues to tell the story about the relationship between the two young adults and all the emotions that go along with it. They find themselves talking about being together "forever". They face together decisions about sex, birth control, going away to college and seperating from each other. Katherine's friend Erica meets a boy named Artie who is struggling with his sexual preferences and there is an underlying story line about these two young adults as well. Artie finds himself depressed and attempts to commit suicide and the whole group of friends is forced to deal with their friend's depression in different ways.

Writing Style:

The story is told through the eyes of Katherine. The author captures the thoughts and feelings of a young teenage girl very well. The reader can really identify with the storyteller and is drawn in very quickly into Katherine's life.

Assessment of quality and utility:

Forever is a great book to introduce any young person to the feelings and thoughts they might be having in a new relationship. Judy Blume characters feel real feelings and think real thoughts. They experience what many other young adults might experience as young adults facing situations like the pressure to have sex, homosexuality, depression or the realization that the person you thought you were going to spend the rest of your life with might not be "the one".

Although written in the 1970's this book still hold true today in many ways. This book would be a terrific book for a health teacher to use in their classroom. Yes the book does have sex scenes in it but nothing very descriptive and it opens up the door to many hard to discuss issues that many teens are still facing today. It could also be a good piece of fiction for a mother-daughter book club to use to open up lines of communication between parent and child.