Deenie

I read Deenie a few months ago because my mom told me I should. She thought I could relate to Deenie because I have scoliosis as well and some say I could be a model. People tell me I'm beautiful and tall (I don't always agree). However when I got scoliosis in 7th grade and had to wear a brace, most everything in my life was changed and my dreams were put on hold. Even though it's not a barrier to my friendships, my goals, or my schoolwork, I still feel very different from everyone else. I don't consider myself to be disabled at all. I can do anything. I may have a brace but I also have a life, friends, a family, and my goals. Deenie feels this way also. I would recommend this book to anyone who has trouble accepting themselves or who just would like to read a good book.

When I first found out I had scoliosis one of the first things my mother did was give me a copy of this book. The book Deenie is about a thirteen year old girl who was thinking about becoming a model when she learns that she, beautiful Deenie has scoliosis. Judy Blume so accuratly described the feelings and emotions of Deenie that it felt as though she was writing about me. Untill I had read this book I felt as if I was the only one going through this even though doctors had told me there were other girls my age with scoliosis. This was such an excellent book that the only time I could put it down was to wipe the tears from my eyes. This is the perfect book for any girl especially one who has scoliosis.

I first read this book when I was 12 years old. It was the first time that I felt anyone in the world understood how I felt as a young teen with Scoliosis. Even though Deenie is a girl, her emotions and experiances mirrored mine as I dealt with wearing the cumbersome Milwaukee brace for 23 hours a day. Thank you Judy!

This book was the first clue I recieved that I was not alone in my affliction with scoliosis. I read it over 19 years ago for the first time. I was the only person I knew of that had this dreaded abnormality. Up until I read "Deenie", I felt like a freak, literally. Most of the kids in school had already labeled me as "retarded" because of my cumbersome back-brace. I was diagnosed with scoliosis in the fifth grade, and from that point until the end of my freshman year of high school, I was cursed with my brace 24/7. My story seemed so much like Deenie's that throughout the book, I cried with her. Deenie and I share so many similarities that it seemed astounding to me at the time, and still does. Deenie's story could very well have been my own. Deenie still seems to me like an old friend that helped me through a very rough time in my life, even after all these years. "Deenie" has made such an impact in my life and in the way I view my affliction that I would strongly reccomend it to sufferers and their families of ALL ages. (Even though there are graphic sexual references, I still feel that the book helped me [at age 11] too much to corrupt me.) Thank you Judy Blume!!!!! Jeannie Bernardo; Roseburg, OR

This book was about a girl who's a teenager and has a wonderful life until one day at school she goes to school like normal, and she's at PE. Her PE. teacher asked her to bend over to see her back and she thinks something is wrong with her back. The next time she goes to the docter and finds out that she has a back problem with her spine. It wasn't staight, and at the end she ends up having to wear a brace and she doesn't like that idea. So her freinds cheer her up about it and everything, and she feels so sad and doesn't want a brace at all. She goes home to find her mom and dad fighting about her brace and that makes her feel even more upset. When she gets the brace everyone tries to make her feel good.......but, you will have to read it all!!! Its like a diary of a girl, and it's a really sad and true story!!!!!I recommend this book to everyone who loves to read diarys about people's life and everything they have to go through. I enjoy all of Judy Blume's books, and this one is especially good.