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Deenie

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I hate it when my mother brags about me and my sister. "Deenie's the beauty and Helen's the brain." Blume would teach me a lot over the years, but her books weren’t merely instructive. They took middle-grade lit – and with Forever – young-adult lit to a new level. Deenie sees Dr. Moravia and then several specialists. Each one asks her parents to wait outside while they examine Deenie. What might have happened if her mother had been allowed in the room? Debate why it’s important for adolescents to communicate with their doctor without a parent present. Margaret, 11 going on 12, moves to New Jersey from Manhattan and falls in with a group of girls. They call themselves the PTS’s – for Pre-Teen Sensations – and do rigorous exercises they think will help them grow breasts. (When Blume was on the film set – she is a producer – she corrected the way the actors were doing the “We must – We must – We must increase our bust!” exercise, according to The Atlantic. They were doing it praying style, palms together; it’s in fact an elbows-to-the-side pumping motion.)

Deenie: Book Summary – Judy Blume Deenie: Book Summary – Judy Blume

Frank Fenner— Deenie's father. He works long hours at the family business, a gas station. Quiet for the majority of the story, he eventually takes a firm, yet fair, parental role in making sure that Deenie wears her brace as prescribed. Thelma Fenner— Deenie's mother. Telling just about everyone that "Deenie's the beauty, Helen's the brain," she pushes her daughters towards careers that she believes are best suited for them, whether they like it or not. There are some fast 7th graders in this story: kids with mature speech who take city buses and talk of masturbation and being felt up and meeting with boys in dark closets. Self-Abuse: Discussed. Deenie mentions touching her "special place" and wondering if that's why she developed scoliosis. Masturbation is even referred to by name in a gym class health discussion in which the teacher tells the students that it's normal and healthy and not to believe the misinformation they've heard about it causing blindness or insanity. Blume said that a principal banned the book from his school library, saying he might've allowed it if the character were a boy. Judy is a longtime advocate of intellectual freedom. Finding herself at the center of an organized book banning campaign in the 1980's she began to reach out to other writers, as well as teachers and librarians, who were under fire. Since then, she has worked tirelessly with the National Coalition Against Censorship to protect the freedom to read. She is the editor of Places I Never Meant To Be, Original Stories by Censored Writers.

This book provides examples of:

When I arrived, breathless, late on a Sunday after that long scenic drive, I learned the dreadful news: Blume regularly works at the bookstore on Sundays and yes, she had been in that day. I had missed her. I would never have ambushed her for an interview, but it would have been great to just say hello. When I finally got to interview her – a month later, over Zoom – and told her a (very condensed) version of this story – she seemed genuinely dismayed. “Oh I’m so sorry!” she said. “Did I know you were coming?” I like how Judy Blume followed Deenie through her scoliosis, from the diagnosis down to the doctor's visits with details of the medical procedures, like how the brace was made. And Deenie's character development, where she realises she can relate to people like old lady Murray and Barbara and Gena, although that was a little too preachy. I also the development of her relationship with her sister Helen. This book would be m great for young children or preteens with scoliosis or a major illness, or those who know someone who does.

Review: Deenie by Judy Blume - Disability in Kidlit Review: Deenie by Judy Blume - Disability in Kidlit

Deenie is one of the few books for young people by Judy Blume that I missed when I was the right age to read them. This was in a book collecting 3 novels: It’s Not the End of the World, Then Again, Maybe I Won’t and Deenie, that I bought for my son. I decided to read it now, because I have Judy Blume on the brain with the movie adaptation of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret coming out. Harvey Grabowski— A ninth-grade student, and president of the student council. Janet also has a crush on him. I did not remember this book very well so I once again decided on listening to the story. I found the narration entertaining. Like all other Judy Blume books she does incorporate a mix of teenage issues within the story. I totally forgot about this one. Ms. Blume really was a pioneer for her day and quite brave for her time. This story also touches on sex and the dreaded...yup.... teenage masturbation.🫢 In the final chapter, Deenie takes off her brace and puts on an old favorite outfit in anticipation of attending a party at her friend Janet's house. She asks her father, Frank, for permission to not wear her brace to the party. Though Thelma gives her consent, Frank, who, until then, was rather mute about everything, firmly refuses, rightfully pointing out that Deenie would want to not wear the brace for every special occasion thereafter, if he gave in that night. In defiance, Deenie brings her old outfit to Janet's house, intending to remove the brace and change clothes once there, but she changes her mind; she leaves her brace on and her old clothes in Janet's room, where they stay for the duration of the party.

Ages 8-12

But, of course, Judy Blume would have seen right through that. Maybe she would have turned our conversation into some sort of counselling session. Ten minutes of comfort, but what good would that have been for this story? Blume left that unhappy marriage, married again, divorced again, and finally met and married Cooper.

Deenie | Book by Judy Blume | Official Publisher Page | Simon Deenie | Book by Judy Blume | Official Publisher Page | Simon

Like Rosie, I liked how Deenie handled it all. She asserts herself and channels her anger in a positive way, eventually. She begins to see her brace as part of her identity and moves to craft it her own way. The plot moves just as it did in previous Blume novels, essentially taking an everyday girl and giving her a big problem. No big conflicts or climaxes, but a solid look at life with a serious diagnosis. The mother is really awful, so get ready for that. Also, some birds-and-bees moments which might not be appropriate…for us grownups. Stage Mom: Deenie is blessed with not one, but two examples of this trope — her actual mother and "Aunt" Rae, who isn't Deenie's blood relative, but rather a close friend of her mother's — whose attitudes toward Deenie's scoliosis and its implications for her modeling career make her situation that much harder to take (both of them implying that Deenie herself is to blame for developing scoliosis). Deenie is relieved towards the end of the book when she realizes she probably won't become a model because of the brace and adds she never really wanted to be one anyway; it was all her mother's idea.

Ages 8-9

Blume could have just written about an average girl getting scoliosis, but she threw in another issue some teens will relate to - parents who try to shape their kids into what they want them to be. Mothers who separate children by talents. "Deenie's the beauty, Helen's the brain." In fact, Blume based the inspiration off of meeting a 14 year old girl who wore a brace and was adjusting, but her mother was the one on tears and coping poorly. Alpha Bitch: While not a total bully, Deenie exhibits fairly strong tendencies of this early on in the story. She looks down a lot at the "handicapped" kids and treats Barbara Curtis, a girl in her class, like her eczema or "creeping crud" is actually a form of leprosy. As she winds up getting diagnosed with scoliosis and fitted for a brace, Deenie grows out of this mindset fast and starts becoming more empathetic to the point where she even becomes friends with Barbara. What is significant about the bag that Deenie takes to Janet’s party? Explain why she doesn’t proceed with her plan. So Deenie has scoliosis and has to wear a brace. This makes her hideously self-conscious and imagine not just being a teenage girl having to wear a brace. Imagine having to be "the pretty one" and wearing a brace.

Deenie by Judy Blume | Goodreads Deenie by Judy Blume | Goodreads

Barbara Curtis— A new friend of Deenie's; she suffers from eczema, which causes nearly everyone else to ostracize her. Deenie herself had not wanted to associate with Barbara initially, but having to be Barbara's partner in gym class allows Deenie to get to know her better. In 2015, Blume published what appears may be her final book. In the Unlikely Event, a novel for adults, is based on real events – three plane crashes in less than two months, very close to where Blume – then young Judy Sussman – lived. Because she remembered so little about these tragedies, it turned into a massive research project. Books & Books, occupying a quiet corner in Key West’s historic district, is exactly what you think a bookstore owned by Judy Blume would be: amazing. Much of my memory of childhood is fuzzy, but I remember exactly where Margaret lived in my elementary school library: the shelf it was on and the spot on the carpet where I spent oodles of time, cross-legged, reading it. I’m not sure I have ever wanted to own a book so badly. I had very few books at home, mostly inherited from my big sisters. And the purse-strings were tight in my family. So I didn’t ask. Maybe I knew my parents would balk at buying a novel they thought I would just grow out of. Maybe I was afraid to ask them for this particular book. My Beloved Smother: Thelma, hands down. She monitors everything that Deenie eats as well as criticizing her posture while making sure both Deenie and Helen are how she wants them to be ("Deenie's the beauty and Helen's the brain"). When Helen mentions trying out for the cheerleading squad, Thelma scolds her for the very notion, saying that Helen didn't need to be jumping around yelling cheers because of her brain. When Deenie is revealed to have tried out for cheerleading, Thelma scolds her for doing so as well, saying that if Deenie had made the team, she wouldn't have time for a modeling career.

Ages 6-8

This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. Deenie Fenner— The main character. Thelma's plans for Deenie to become a model are in jeopardy when Deenie is diagnosed with scoliosis. Guide written by Pat Scales, a retired middle and high school librarian who is currently a children’s and young adult literature consultant and specializes in curriculum and free speech issues. I get frustrated when writers don't “assign” the right ages to their protagonists, and the 7th graders in this story were a lot more like 9th graders, and my 6th grader is a lot more like a 4th grader, so this was a read-aloud that required this mom to make a few detours.

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