"Forever" by: Judy Blume

I recently found a book that was written by one of my favorite authors as a kid. This book is called Forever and was written by one of my all time favorite authors, Judy Blume. I was excited to see that she had written books on more of my level of reading. The book, Forever, tells of a girl named Katherine who struggles between finding the meaning between first love and true love.

Katherine is a senior in high school and stuck with what she plans to do with her life after high school. Her best friend, Erica takes her to a new year’s party where she meets a guy named Michael and immediately can’t stop thinking about him. There was something different about him, and she liked it. After the party, Katherine and Michael start to hang out together and eventually are inseparable. They have a very unique relationship and spend as much time as possible together. Even though Katherine and Michael hadn’t been together that long, they knew it was serious until things took a drastic turn. Katherine got the news that she would be working at a summer camp for seven weeks in New Hampshire and Michael had a job in North Carolina. When the time came that the two had to leave each other, they knew it would be hard, but they tried hard to stay together even though they were so far apart. Katherine knew she still loved Michael, but new feelings are aroused when she goes to camp and meets Theo, the tennis instructor. Katherine is stuck between her feelings for Michael and her feelings for Theo and has to make a decision which one she would rather be with.

In this novel, Judy Blume puts the reader in Katherine’s place so it is possible to feel what she is going through and to know how it feels to be in these types of situations. I think this book is a very good description of what a lot of younger people go through. We have no way of knowing that we are really in love if it’s only our first time. Katherine struggles because she says she has never felt this way before, and she would do anything for it to stay like this forever. It becomes very hard though when Michael and her are split up and Katherine is not with Michael as often. She begins to realize that maybe her parents were right and that there is more to life. I think Judy Blume explains that we shouldn’t get caught up on one thing or person, but to live life to the fullest and don’t shut ourselves away from open opportunities. All Katherine cared about was being with Michael and spending every minute they could together. When Katherine finds Theo who makes her feel like a completely different person, she knows she was wrong for shutting herself away to one person. Katherine realizes that she is too young to know what true love is, and that she has all of her life before her to find that one person, who maybe isn’t her first love, but her true love.

I would recommend this book because it shows that we shouldn’t focus our lives on one thing, but look more at the big picture and be open to opportunities. Once Katherine realizes she wants more for her life, it is too hard to make the change because she has already made a promise. This book is very informational and also inspirational because it teaches the reader a lesson. Judy Blume says there is a first for everything and we should always be open to new ideas. This book is also very entertaining and keeps the reader flipping the page until the very end to discover the love Katherine and Michael say they will share forever.