©
1970 by
Judy Blume.
A
teen classic. Full of terribly corny ruminations about
boys,
brassieres, and
menstruation with some asides about
theology that really work for me.
If I had grown up reading
Harriet the Spy over and over I probably would have been much
healthier and less
self-conscious in my
pre-teen years.
Margaret, the
protagonist, is product of an
interfaith marriage like myself. (As was also the case with me, she suffers considerable
existential angst.) Anyway, the title stems from the fact that Margaret doesn't seem to know how to
pray formally, and so devises her own manner of
talking to God:
Are you there God? It's me, Margaret. I can't wait until two o'clock God. That's when our dance starts. Do you think I'll get Philip Leroy for a partner? It's not so much that I like him as a person God, but as a boy he's very handsome. And I'd love to dance with him...just once or twice. Thank you God.