Forever... By Judy Blume

Fiction—Forever… by Judy Blume Blume, Judy. (2012).

Forever…New York, NY: Antheneum books for Young Readers.

Katherine and Michael are high school seniors who happen to meet at a New Year’s Party and have an instant connection. They are quickly enamored and can’t get enough of each other. The relationship moves quickly as Katherine prepares herself mentally to lose her virginity to Michael, the love of her life. They are both so in love and want to be with each other every minute or forever. Then something unexpected happens, Katherine and Michael end up having summer jobs in different states. After being away from each other for about a month, Katherine begins to question the meaning of to love forever.

Forever… first published in 1975 was written as a request to Blume’s daughter who asked for a story about two teens who have sex without either of them being punished with an unplanned pregnancy, a grim abortion or death as many of these things happened in the novels she read about teenagers in love. Blume (2013) goes on to explain that, “girls in these books had no sexual feelings and boys had no feelings other than sexual. Neither took responsibility for their actions” (p.7). In Forever, she wanted to “present another kind of story—one in which two seniors in high school fall in love, decide together to have sex, and act responsibly” (Blume, 2013, p.7).

Blume successfully accomplishes this by showing us throughout the novel how Katherine slowly gets herself mentally ready to fully commit to having sex with Michael. At the beginning of the story when Michael tries to get under Katherine’s sweater she says “No…lets save something for tomorrow. He didn’t pressure me” (Blume, 2013, p.22) But as time passes, they continually take it up a level. Once again when they are together, Michael tells Katherine that she is ready to go all the way, but Katherine is not ready as she says, “A person has to think… a person has to be sure…I have to control my body with my mind” (Blume, 2013, p.43). On the day that Katherine loses her virginity she asks Michael if he has something for protection because she doesn’t want to get pregnant and Michael replies, “I’ve got a rubber in my wallet…” (Blume, 2013, p. 133) And as Katherine reflects on her first sexual experience she cannot image what the first time would have been had she been with someone she did not love.

Blume (2013) does a fantastic job of weaving the theme of sexual responsibility explicitly throughout Forever. When Katherine asks her mother if she was a virgin when she got married her mother tells her that, “sex is a commitment…once you’re there you can’t go back to holding hands…And when you give yourself both mentally and physically …well, your completely vulnerable… I expect you to handle it with a sense of responsibility…” (107-108). The theme of sexual responsibility is also seen when Katherine’s grandmother sends her a package in the mail filled with “pamphlets from Planned Parenthood on birth control, abortion and venereal disease” (Blume 2013, P.150) and the next day Katherine calls Planned Parenthood of New York city because she’d “like some information about birth control...” (Blume, 2013, p.153)

In Forever, Blume “sought to counteract didactic writings in the 1970s that addressed adolescent love absent of sexual feelings and desire” (Kurtz, 2011, p.229). Katherine’s character clearly demonstrates her sexual feelings towards Michael whenever she is thinking about him, “I thought about making love with him—the whole thing…Would I make noises like my mother? ... What would it be like to be in bed with Michael?” (Blume, 2013, 70). Once she is with him she says, “Once I got over being scared I let my hands go everywhere. I wanted to feel every part of him” (Blume, 2013, p.100).

Blume creates a dynamic character in Katherine as we see her evolve from a sexually inexperienced girl, “What should I do?...Can you spread your legs some more…I felt a big thrust, followed by a quick sharp pain that made me suck in my breath…but I didn’t come” (Blume, 2013, p.136) to a sexually confident young lady, “I kissed his ears, running my tongue around the edges. I used my hands on his body while I worked my way down…I straddled him, helping Ralph find the right angle, and when he was inside me I moved slowly—up, down, and around…until I couldn’t control myself anymore…And then I came before he did. I came before he did…I came again, not caring about anything—any—thing but how good it felt” (Blume, 2013, 217-218).

In addition Katherine’s sexual evolution, Blume displays her change in maturity level from the time her mother gave her the article from the Times about Sexual Liberation. The article asked teens four questions about sexual intercourse, questions three and four asked, once you have sex “if you should need help, where will you seek it? And have you thought about how this relationship will end? Katherine’s initial response to these questions is that question three did not interest her at all so she skipped to four which upset her (Blume, 2013, 142-143). On the other hand, Katherine’s decision to go to Planned Parenthood to get the pill shows her characters responsibility and maturity. In another scene when Michael and Katherine are arguing question number four pops into Katherine’s mind, making her reflect “about how this relationship will end?” (Blume, 2013, p. 255).

Even though “when Forever was first published it was highly censored because of its explicit sexual scenes between Michael and Katherine” (Kurtz, 2011, p. 229), I feel that it’s a must read for parents and teens. The book is written in vernacular form for teens focusing on the experience of the first sexual encounter, sexual responsibility themes, and a well development female character. It is a good discussion starter for parents and teens about very sensitive topics. The book is recommended for teens 13 and older, but my suggestion would be for 16 or older depending on the maturity level of teens.

                                                              References

Blume, Judy. (2012) Forever… New York, NY: Antheneum Books for Young Readers.

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