Judy Blume's "Forever"

I decided to read "Forever" as one of my optional books for school. My memories of reading Judy Blume during adolescense don't jump out at me as being particularly shocking so I decided to see why "Forever" was the eighth most challenged book from 1990-2000. The opening line gave me an idea of why the book is so frequently challenged:

"Sybil Davison has a genius IQ and has been laid by at least six different guys."

Just from the reading of this one line it is easy to understand why most conservative parents would object to their children reading the novel. According to the "2004 Banned Books Resource Guide", one parent went so far as to call it pornagraphy and another said, "It glamorizes [sex] and puts ideas in their heads" (23). However, the novel is not licentious or even pornographic at all. The novel was written over twenty years ago but the topics it addresses are still relevant today. I think Judy Blume understood that an opening sentence like that would grab the attention of young adults who were curious about sex, but afraid to ask about it. The story deals, in a very straightforward, realistic and responsible way with many of the sexual questions and feelings that teenagers have. The book also touches on the subject of abortion, homosexuality and suicide-- all things that teenagers need to be informed about.

The story is about Katherine, a senior in high school, and her relationship with Michael. Katherine believes that she and Michael will be together forever and she eventually decides that she is ready to lose her virginity to Michael. This isn't a rash decision that Katherine makes- she thinks about it, she asks her mom questions, she insists that Michael wear a condom, she talks to him about his sexual history and health and she even goes to Planned Parenthood to go on birth control after her feminist grandmother sends her information packets.

In contrast, Sybil, who the reader is introduced to in the opening line, eventually gets pregnant, doesn't know who the father is, doesn't tell her parents until it is too late for them to force her to get an abortion , gives birth to the baby, gives it up for adoption because she realizes it is the best thing she can do to take care of it. The novel only briefly touches on Sybil's story and emotional pain of having to giver up her baby, but it is there to show the readers what a huge difference being responsible can make.