Weekend Reading: Forever and The Impossible Knife of Memory

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February 16, 2015

Forever by Judy Blume

This was a re-read for me. Was it ever. When I was in my teens, I must have read this countless times. It seems like just yesterday when my best friend and I would hang out in the school yard talking about this book and all the yummy parts and, of course, the ending. So many of the images and themes in this book were seared into crevices of my brain and I hadn’t even realized it. Back then, I had taken a lot of what was so great about this book for granted: how well-written it is, how true and matter of fact and poignant without any extra or unnecessary words, the no-bullshit approach to sex, and a heroine who was a regular girl going through a real relationship.

The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson

So a year after I go to Laurie Halse Anderson’s book signing and get this book, I finally read it. What was I waiting for? Every time I opened it up I was sucked into another time and space. One time at lunch I went to the park and finished reading this magical scene where Hayley and Finn are lying on a hill looking at the stars. When I looked up I was like “Oh, wow. There’s grass and dogs running to fetch balls and mountains. All around me.” I felt so lucky to be traveling between a wonderful fictional world and a wonderful real world. So, yeah, I really liked this book.