Forever . . . Paperback – April 29, 2014

MAY CONTAIN SPOILER - IN FACT...DOESI absolutely loved this book and it may just be one of my favorite Judy Blume books, though I'm only 18 and so I didn't grow up in my early teens with Judy like my mom. I really enjoyed this book and the memorable moments like how Kath and Michael met at a New Year's party to their many dates and their love scenes. The book seemed to treat the subject of smoking grass quite lightly (Michael's sister smokes it with her boyfriend in their apartment like it's no thing, but it was the seventies and all the rage so...). It touched on birth control and VD, which was heavy stuff back in that time. I'm so glad this book had responsible teens when it came to sex; they took all precautions and their first encounters were entertaining and quite enlightening. I love books like this about teenage love and lust and I was so disappointed towards the end and would you like to know why? Kath and Michael had been together for a few months and were pretty serious about each other and apparently the parents didn't seem to like this because the kids would be going off to college in the fall. Kath and Michael were separated from each other for the summer, but they wrote each other back and forth and it was sweet, but Kath met a guy at her tennis camp and they became friendly and gradually, she found it difficulty writing to Michael anymore and especially saying I LOVE YOU or LOVE in her letters; and that's when I became angry. This was the point in the story where the title and whole point came into play. You think something will last forever and most of the time, you want it too. Unfortunately Michael, and Kath for that matter, learn this the hard way and both end up getting hurt - Michael the most. You can want your relationship to last forever and if both parties are dead bent on that notion, then maybe things can work out, but realistically (especially when things purposely drive the two apart) obstacles can get in the way and who is really that strong to resist temptation. The book had to be good, to get me riled up and angry at the protagonist. The couple I followed in the book and grew to enjoy together, did not stay together. *sigh* IT was great and followed through. I really recommend it to the rare younger teens much like I was because in this day and age, teens really don't believe in that mushy gushy love and romance stuff anymore. It's a definitely a good read.

“FORVER” by Judy Blume“Forever” is one of those books that libraries and school administrations are always trying to ban. They want to ban it because it is about first love and, heavens, sex. It’s listed as “teen fiction,” but I’m not sure what age that means, because the story is about two high-school seniors, Katherine and Michael, whose raging hormones push their relationship into a sexual one. Michael claims to be experienced in bed, but Katherine is a virgin. All her friends are doing “it” so why not? As their “love” for each other grows, so too their need to experience each others bodies. After a few first steps of exploration, Katherine, finally loses her virginity to Michael. Though it’s not the over-whelming, mind-blowing experience she was expecting, Katherine is, none the less, hooked. What she is after now, is her first orgasm. She and Michael continue to have sex whenever and wherever they can, until it finally happens for Katherine. But is having sex the same as being in love? Katherine and Michael say they love each other and will love each other “forever.” But when they go off to different colleges, Katherine wonders if their love will last? The answer, of course, is no. There is a whole new world waiting for them to explore.I read somewhere that a lot of what Judy Blume writes is based on her own experiences and I have no doubt this is probably true of “Forever,” too. There have been a lot of books about teenage first love and losing one’s virginity from the male’s point-of-view, but this is the only work of fiction I’ve read from the female’s POV. What “Forever” says is that young, teen girls can be just as “horny” as young, teen boys. That teenage girls can want and enjoy physical sex and be just as aggressive about getting “it” as teenage boys. I think it’s this honesty in the telling that often gets “Forever” banned. Librarians, teachers, educators, and parents are usually more comfortable with the lies of adolescent sexuality than with the realities. They’d rather believe teens never think about sex, than believe they might actually have an active sex life. And so it goes.

Excellent read.Judy Blume skillfully and honestly portrays the challenges, experienced by all teens and young adults, of transitioning from holding hands to a relationship with both emotional and sexual responsibility. She informs her readers that a relationship can have real consequences without being condescending towards them.Even at the age of 28, I was able to relate to this book as I also experienced my first love at 17 going on 18 and am lucky enough to still be with him today.I think the message of this book is that it's perfectly normal to get swept up in the excitement of your first love and your first time, but be sensible and keep yourself safe. Be responsible.I will definitely be giving this book to my younger sister, who is 15 years old.To any parents who are unsure about the appropriateness of this book, my advice would be to read it first yourselves then decide.This book is intelligent, informative and relatable.

I used to read lots of Judy Blume when I was younger and I wanted to buy myself a new book to read to help relax me when going through a bad stage of panic attacks.I am so glad I went back to my childhood and chose this one, although it is short, as a 27 year old woman I loved it and couldn't stop reading it.I went on to buy a few more of her books and have really enjoyed them all.It's all about young love and sex.I hope a sequel comes out.Thank you to this book for helping me through a tough time!

There are a lot of good reviews about this book where it is referred to as 'ahead of its time' so I had quite high expectations. I get it could have this potential but I wasn't too impressed. It was an easy, gentle read but I found that there wasn't enough description to the important scenes. The development around the characters wasn't great so I felt no emotions towards them and could not relate. I feel as though capturing key characteristics and situations is key to enticing readers.Overall, it was ok.

Judy Blume does not spare us the messy details of a young girl's growing sexuality. She doesn't sugar-coat it. Protagonist Kath also has to face some tough emotional events: her grandfaterh's death, her parents resistance to her relationship with Michael and the attempted suicide of a friend. Blume handles all of this as effectively and as honestly as anyone writing in the 21st century.

I bought this for my best friends 40th birthday. When we were teenagers we stole it from her older sister's room so we could read what we thought was a naughty book. This was the first book we both read. I am almost 40 now and this book has stayed in mind during all this time. I was looking through Amazon for small gifts to bring the personal factor to this big birthday and thought I would try to see if they had any second hand. I was totally surprised that they were still printing this after all these years...but like me this book it timeless.My 16 year daughter now wants to read this, after the emotions that have stayed with me all these years relating to this book my BFF is now planning to buy it for her birthday so one day she will do the same for her daughter.