Are You There God ? It 's Me, Margaret. - Wikipedia Are You There God ? It 's Me, Margaret. Are You There God ? It 's Me, Margaret First edition Author Judy Blume Country United States Language English Genre Young adult Publisher Yearling Publication date 1970 Media type Print Pages 149 pp ISBN 0 - 440 - 40419 - 3 OCLC 19882286 LC Class MLCS 2006 / 13809 ( P ) Are You There God ? It 's Me, Margaret is a 1970 book by Judy Blume, typically categorized as a young adult novel, about a sixth - grade girl who has grown up without a religious affiliation, due to her parents ' interfaith marriage. The novel explores her quest for a single religion. Margaret also confronts typical issues faced by pre-teen girls going through puberty, such as buying her first bra, having her first period, and feeling attracted to certain boys. The novel has been frequently challenged since the 1980s due to its frank discussions of sexual and religious topics. Contents 1 Background 2 Plot 3 Main characters 4 Awards 5 Censorship 6 Subsequent book 7 References 8 External links Background Judy Blume has said that the character of Margaret was inspired by her own experiences in sixth grade. Like Margaret, Blume did not physically mature at the same rate as her classmates, and tried exercises to get her bust to grow. Like Margaret, Blume also had `` a very personal relationship with God ''. However, Blume said that Margaret 's family life grew from Blume 's imagination, as her own family was very different from the one portrayed in the book. Plot Margaret Simon is just turning twelve when her family moves from New York City to the New Jersey suburbs. Margaret 's mother is Christian and her father is Jewish. Margaret has been raised without an affiliation to either faith, and does not practice an organized religion, although she frequently prays to God in her own words, beginning by saying, `` Are you there God ? It 's me, Margaret. '' She is beginning to feel uncomfortable with her lack of a religious affiliation. For a school assignment, she chooses to study people 's religious beliefs, hoping to resolve the question of her own religion in the process. Part of her study involves attending different churches, to better understand religious practice and also to see if one of the churches might feel right for her. Margaret befriends Nancy, a neighbor girl her own age who seems confident and knowledgeable about many subjects, including sex. Nancy, Margaret, and two other girls, Gretchen and Janie, form a secret club where they discuss subjects like boys, bras and periods. The girls anxiously await their first periods, prepare in advance by buying belted sanitary napkins ( changed to adhesive pads in later editions of the book ), and do exercises in hopes of increasing their bust measurements. Gretchen and Nancy begin to menstruate, causing Margaret to worry that she herself is abnormal for not having started yet. Margaret envies her classmate Laura who, unlike herself, already has a womanly figure and, according to Nancy, is sexually involved with a handsome older boy on whom Margaret has a crush. Margaret is also attracted to a popular boy in her class named Philip Leroy and kisses him at a party while playing Two Minutes in the Closet ( a game similar to Seven Minutes in Heaven ). Over time, Margaret discovers that her seemingly confident friend Nancy has her own insecurities and does n't always tell the truth, which puts Margaret in several uncomfortable situations. Margaret 's exploration of religion leads to conflict with both sides of her family. She enjoys spending time with her Jewish paternal grandmother, who at first seems to accept her for who she is. However, when Margaret attends synagogue in order to see what the Jewish faith entails, her grandmother begins to push Margaret to embrace Judaism, which frustrates Margaret as she feels that religion should not matter if she and her grandmother love each other. Margaret 's Christian maternal grandparents, who have been estranged from Margaret and her parents for many years due to their disapproval of interfaith marriage, suddenly decide to visit, but a family argument erupts when they discover that Margaret is not being raised as a Christian. In frustration, Margaret declares that she does n't believe in God and rejects both parents ' religions. She gives up on God and stops talking to him. At the end of her study project, she has not been able to resolve her religious situation as she had hoped, but has learned about herself and become more comfortable with her lack of affiliation. She then gets her first period and, relieved and happy, resumes her previous relationship with God, saying, `` I know you 're there God. I know you would n't have missed this for anything ! Thank you God. Thanks an awful lot... '' Main characters Margaret Simon : The protagonist of the book. She is 12 years old and an only child. She is starting puberty and beginning to notice boys, and she is uncertain of which religion she prefers to follow. Barbara Simon ( Hutchins ) : Margaret 's stay - at - home mother, who is Christian. Herbert Simon : Margaret 's father, an insurance salesman, who is Jewish. Sylvia Simon : Margaret 's grandmother ( Herbert 's mother ). She refers to Margaret as `` my Margaret '' or her `` Jewish girl ''. She wants to convert Margaret to Judaism. Nancy Wheeler : Margaret 's neighbor and her first new friend in Farbrook, New Jersey. Gretchen Potter : A friend of Nancy 's whose father is a doctor, and who is a member of the Four PTS 's. Janie Loomis : Another girl in the Four PTS 's with Nancy, Gretchen, and Margaret. She is the last of the four to get her period. Evan Wheeler : Nancy 's older brother. Moose Freed : Evan 's friend, whom Margaret takes a great interest in. Miles J. Benedict Jr. : Margaret 's sixth - grade teacher, who is in his first year in the job. Laura Danker : A classmate of Margaret 's who is tall and very developed for her age. Phillip Leroy : A classmate of Margaret 's whom she initially likes. Mary and Paul Hutchins : Barbara 's estranged parents, who all but disowned her for marrying outside her religion. Awards In 2010, the book was placed on Time 's list of the top 100 fiction books written in English since 1923. The magazine wrote, `` Blume turned millions of pre-teens into readers. She did it by asking the right questions -- and avoiding pat, easy answers. '' Censorship Starting in the 1980s, Are You There God ? It 's Me, Margaret became a frequent target of challenges, often due to its discussions of sex or allegations that it contained profane or anti-Christian material. On the American Library Association ( ALA ) list of the 100 most frequently challenged books of the 1990s, the book was number 60, and on the ALA 's list for the 2000s, it ranked at 99. Subsequent book Blume 's success with Are You There God ? It 's Me, Margaret inspired her to write another book, Then Again, Maybe I Wo n't, from a boy 's perspective. This novel deals with Tony Miglione, a boy of the same age as Margaret who is dealing with puberty as well, although his transition from childhood to adulthood is quite different from Margaret 's. References ^ Jump up to : `` Are You There God ? It 's Me, Margaret ''. deletecensorship.org. Half Price Books. 2014. Archived from the original on 2016 - 06 - 28. Retrieved 2016 - 11 - 30. Jump up ^ `` Most Frequently Challenged Authors of the 21st Century ''. ALA.org. American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2016 - 09 - 05. Retrieved 2016 - 11 - 30. ^ Jump up to : Blume, Judy. `` Judy Blume on the Web : Judy Blume Talks About Censorship ''. judyblume.com. Judy Blume. Archived from the original on 2013 - 12 - 01. Retrieved 2016 - 11 - 30. Jump up ^ Knox, Emily J.M. ( 2015 ). Book Banning in 21st - Century America. Lanham, Maryland : Rowman & Littlefield. p. vii. ISBN 9781442231689. Jump up ^ Blume, Judy. `` Judy Blume on the Web : Are You There God ? It 's Me, Margaret ''. judyblume.com. Judy Blume. Archived from the original on 2013 - 11 - 26. Retrieved 2016 - 11 - 30. Jump up ^ Grossman, Lev ( 6 January 2010 ). `` All Time 100 Novels ''. Time Magazine. Retrieved 21 January 2015. Jump up ^ `` 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books : 1990 -- 1999 ''. ALA.org. American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2016 - 11 - 13. Retrieved 2016 - 12 - 18. Jump up ^ `` Top 100 Banned / Challenged Books : 2000 - 2009 ''. ALA.org. American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2016 - 12 - 13. Retrieved 2016 - 12 - 18. External links Children 's literature portal 1970s portal Novels portal Judy Blume 's website Works by or about Are You There God ? It 's Me, Margaret. in libraries ( WorldCat catalog ) Works by Judy Blume Fudge series Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great Superfudge Fudge - a-Mania Double Fudge Characters Novels The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo Iggie 's House Are You There God ? It 's Me, Margaret. Then Again, Maybe I Wo n't Freckle Juice It 's Not the End of the World Deenie Blubber Forever... Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself Wifey Tiger Eyes Smart Women Just as Long as We 're Together Here 's to You, Rachel Robinson Summer Sisters In The Unlikely Event Non-fiction and others The Judy Blume Diary Letters to Judy : What Kids Wish They Could Tell You The Pain and the Great One Places I Never Meant to Be Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Are_You_There_God%3F_It%27s_Me,_Margaret.&oldid=798057062 '' Categories : Novels set in New York City Novels by Judy Blume 1970 American novels American young adult novels Hidden categories : Pages to import images to Wikidata Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Русский Edit links This page was last edited on 30 August 2017, at 18 : 50. About Wikipedia

Question: who wrote are you there god it's me margaret
Answer: Judy Blume