FOREVER : A Novel of Good and Evil, Love and Hope

Rating:
Summary: unique subject matter does not buy artistic merit
Review: I'll keep this short. Yes, this is a fairly unique book; in my experience, I have yet to come across another. The writing, however, is truely dreadful. It reads like a typical high school student wrote it. Some things mentioned, like preferences to lox on bagels, are amazingly tedious and quite inconsequential to the story as a whole. As a work of art, it is sub-par. As a ground-breaking subject for an adolescent novel, it does well. Most innocence-lost books are much more dramatic, but atypical drama would defeat the purpose here. Read it if you want to hear of an everyday, ho-hum, teenager dealing with her first relationship and loosing her virginity. It will sound very much like your own, perhaps, and very much like all the stories you've heard from your friends. Don't read it if you prefer depth in plot & exploration of character, for that's not the point of this book's existence.

Rating:
Summary: A Valuable Tool for Parents
Review: I read this book (and Judy Blume's "Deenie" and "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret") for a research paper on literary censorship. It seems that the negative reviews written here are actually a form of control of what can and cannot be read by individuals. We are sexual beings by nature. For a great deal of parents it is awkward to talk openly and frankly with their pre-teen or teenage children about sex, protection, and other related topics. This book, as well as "Deenie" and "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" should be used as tools by parents to help introduce these topics. It is also very important that they realize that these books are merely tools and they have to back it up with clear communication. Saying, "Here, Nancy, read this." is not enough. Parents have to provide their children with information about sex when they are old enough to understand it and in a timely manner. For example, "Deenie" and "Margaret" are targeted to girls that are entering puberty, while "Forever" is targeted to older teenagers that may be considering sexual activity. Also, while these books are targeted primarly to girls, there's no harm in guys reading them, either. At least it's one avenue of information for them. Well, I'll wrap this up... if you've got a pre-teen or a teenager, and you're willing to sit with them and explain to them what puberty is and what it represents, then these books are great tools to help you explain it.

Rating:
Summary: A Unique Read!!!
Review: I did find Forever to be a unique read & at the time it was published things like that just weren't said.Forever describes the teen sexuality of teenage couple. I thought it was a pretty good novel & I finished it in a very short time but I don't think it would be worthy of a prize. I did like how it got right down to it & gave you the facts straight out there when other authors leave the good stuff out.I would recommend it to teenagers as a good,straightforward novel that deals with tennage sexuality issues.

Rating:
Summary: The Best book with a sad ending
Review: Forever is my favorite book, i read it in 1 day... Micheal & her are so perfect for each other i didnt wan the book to end,he end made me so mad because they should have been together "forever" but i also understand that since it was her first love that it wouldn't be realistic if it ended all perfect! i have read the book about 5 times and i love it so much!

Rating:
Summary: page-turner!
Review: I thought this book was beyond excellent. Once I picked it up I couldn't put it down! I finished it in a little over 2 hrs!! Anyways, I think this book is so realistic and its so easy to relate to!! Katherine is falling in love for the first time and as her relationship progresses you can't help but feel as she does! Definitely spend some time reading this! You won't regret it!

Rating:
Summary: A must read
Review: Wow this was a really great book. Once you start reading it you just can't put it down. It has a wonderful story line to it and u might learn a thing or two? Infact, I read it with in a few hours and then my friend read it and then before i knew it the book was being read by a bunch of other people at school. Actually some of them were walking down the hall way with it open, and fighting over who was gonna get it next! That must tell you something considering me and my friends arent the type that generaly read! Be sure and read it its really really good!

Rating:
Summary: Book with realism
Review: I really like this book. It's a must-read! It talks about every subject that a growing teen can imagine. Plus, the ending was excellent, it describes reality just right..

Rating:
Summary: Compelling!
Review: This is an EXCELLENT coming of age novel. Judy Blume out does her self in this one! Any girl who has ever even thought about sex, love, or a relationship will LOVE this book. I can not even express my love for this book. This is one of my all time favortie books and probably my 2nd or 3rd favorite of Mrs. Blume's books. READ READ READ!!!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: A little too graphic
Review: I am 12, and I read this book in two days. I am very mature but I was not ready for it. I have read about it in a magasine,and bought it in a shop one day. While I was reading it, I knew that my Mother would not approve, so I hide it and read it in secret. I made the mistake of taking it on an airplane and reading it when I thought my mother was asleep. She wasn't. When she saw it she asked me where I got it and what it was about. I told her it was a little more adult and wouldn't let her see it. Then she got even more curiouse. Eventually, she found it and confiscated it. She said I wasn't old enough to read it. she was right. So, Please don't Read "Forever" unless you are 14 or over, and show it to your mother or father, if they arn't really strict and old fashioned.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've read
Review: This is one of the best books I've read because of so many reasons. It portrays a teenagers true feelings and emotions and Im amazed that Judy Blume can relate so much to the character "Kathryn". Other reviews gave it a lower number of stars because they claimed that the story was really well written but the end just cut you off. I disagree with that. I think it was written that way purposely and it shows that there aren't always happy endings to evrything in life, and just like this book, sometimes, everything goes great for a while (bulids up) and then suddenly it's over and if your dissapointed you can't go back and change it. There are so many moments in this book that make you want to cry when you realize how cruel the world can be and that things like the situation in this book happen every single day...this book is must read.