Found my old copy of 'Forever' by Judy Blume in my mom's attic last Saturday

I was cleaning out my mom's attic in Austin and stumbled on my battered copy of 'Forever' that I read like 12 times in middle school. It felt wild holding it again because that book got me through so many awkward questions about relationships and sex that nobody wanted to talk about. Has anyone else found a banned book from their childhood that still hits different now as an adult?

2 comments

2 Comments

reese_patel8h ago

Mom definitely knew. I remember she found it under my mattress once and just put it back without saying a word. That book was my real talk before I had any real talks. I loaned it to three friends in 7th grade and we all passed it around like contraband. Flipping through it now I can't believe how tame it seems compared to what kids see online. But back then it felt like holding a secret manual to adulthood.

alice_wilson731d ago

Reading that book back then felt like a secret conversation nobody else was having... it was the only place someone actually told the truth about what relationships were really like. Did your mom ever find out you had it hidden under your mattress, or did you manage to keep it a secret from her the whole time? I always wondered if parents know what we're actually reading or if they just pretend not to see.

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