Summary
Katherine and Michael both get extremely ill with the flu. Michael takes Katherine out for her birthday. He gives her a silver necklace. “Katherine” is engraved on one side of a silver disk and “Forever… Michael” is engraved on the other. She becomes emotional, so Michael leads her out of the restaurant. Katherine tells Michael that she is taking the Pill. She initiates sex, but she is reluctant to go to Michael’s house. Michael shows her around his neat house. His own room is very messy. Katherine picks out her favorite aftershave of his. They have sex on the bathroom floor, but Michael comes early. They try again in bed, and Katherine comes this time too. She is excited after. Katherine is best friends with Michael. They share a different friendship then the one she shares with Erica. Katherine wants to spend every day with Michael; forever. They shower together, and then go out to dinner together. Katherine wants to meet Michael’s parents. She also wants to have sex again. Jamie is in love, but not serious love. Michael and Katherine want to find summer jobs. Erica gets an exciting job. Sybil is pregnant. She doesn’t know who the father is, and is putting the baby up for adoption. Erica’s Mom is going to make her daughter take the Pill, because of Sybil’s situation. Career day comes. Sharon and Katherine’s grandmother attend. Katherine and Michael have a plan arranged with their college trimesters so that they will see each other. Sybil gets accepted to every college she applies to. She has her pregnancy hidden because of her large size. Katherine accepts Denver’s offer immediately. She tells her parents about how Michael and she plan to see each other. They are not happy.
Things That Make Me Go “Hmm”
I can relate to Katherine when she is opening her birthday present. She says that she doesn’t know how to act when she gets a present. I never know how to act either for some reason! I think it is an awkwardness that Katherine and I both feel.
( Image of birthday gift and birthday balloons from http://www.shrcsc.net/images/birthday-gift-balloon.jpg .)
The title of the book might come from the engraving on the necklace that Michael gives to Katherine.
I was surprised that Michael and Katherine have been dating for awhile (near a half of year), but she still has not met his parents.
Sybil did not want to tell her parents about her baby, because she knew that they would force her to have an abortion. On the flip side, Erica and Katherine would readily have an abortion; without giving it any thought. I wonder why they have such different views, especially because Erica and Sybil come from the same family.
I did not realize how overweight Sybil is. She is able to hide a pregnancy. In addition, her family was going to send her off to a camp so that she could lose weight.
Assigned Focus-Genre Choices
Judy Blume’s novel, Forever…, is categorized in the genre of young adult fiction. Judy Blume chose Young Adult Fiction to express teenage sexuality, because she wanted to show teenagers what sex was all about if they did not have anyone to talk to. In this way, Judy Blume takes on a motherly role. She describes a teenager relationship for those who have never had one. She offers compassion for those who have. Hence, by choosing such a genre Judy Blume is able to comfort and inform her audience. In addition, Judy Blume chose the genre of young adult fiction to express her theme, because doing so allowed her to write for an attentive audience. Young adults, including myself, become engrossed in this book. Due to the popularity of Forever… among young adults, I think that Judy Blume made the correct decision by expressing her theme in young adult fiction. Young adult fiction is a suitable genre considering that the book deals with the theme of teenage sexuality. This theme would have been too mature for preteens, but not mature enough for adults. (Young adult fiction is written for those that are age fourteen to those that are age twenty one.) The theme of teenage sexuality contains some language that is vulgar, and subject matter that is descriptive. For these reasons, most adults would not enjoy the book. For these reasons as well, the book would have been inappropriate for children. In conclusion, the theme of teenage sexuality would not have been as successful if Judy Blume wrote about such a theme in a different genre (Middle Grade Fiction, Children Fiction, Adult Fiction, Suspense, Romance, or Romantic comedy). Young adult fiction expresses the theme of teenage sexuality well. Fiction means fake, but that does not equate to a story that is not believable. Writing in fiction allowed Judy Blume to be more open. In young adult fiction, most likely an adolescent is portrayed as the protagonist. This makes the story more relatable for the audience. Themes relate often to the challenges that youth brings, while the subject matter and is consistent with age of the main character. In my opinion, the genre and the theme complimented each other beautifully.
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