Smart Women

Reading Smart Women is like catching up with an old friend you haven't seen in a while--Judy Blume. If you, like me grew up reading Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret and Forever, and loved those books, then you will love Smart Women. Judy Blume's writing style is so fabulous, so comfortable. There is no one else writing like her today. This is a terrific book about contemporary women and the crises they face after divorce, and, as with all other Judy Blume books, she does not disappoint. Enjoy this one, it is so easy to read, yet it's not "light reading" because it makes you think.

I grew up on Blume books like "Superfudge" and "Tales of A Fourth Grade Nothing". As a woman, I continue to grow when I read her adult books. She says what people always think but are too afraid to say. This gives you the opportunity to see what might happen if you did say exactly how you felt. (Gives you a little incentive, too!)Thumbs up on her approach of showing each key character's point of view on the same situations. It really helps you think about how other people percieve things differently than you do.

I loved this book just as much as Summer Sisters, which I finished in one day. Smart Women took me three days, but it was well worth it. The style is much different than Summer Sisters, but just as good. I hope Blume continues to write for older readers as well as younger ones!

This book is very emotionally satisfying. Margo is a very likable person, and you'll find yourself rooting for her and Andrew to find real happiness together -- despite interference from their children and ex-spouses. An excellent book for kids (older kids) to better understand their parents' divorce, as well as for parents to better understand their kids' perception of "the new person in Mom's life." The children are portrayed with sympathy and compassion.Judy Blume is a master at exposing TRUE human emotions. No other writer even comes close.

Smart Women is perhaps Judy Blume's most accomplished work. Indeed, the text is almost a synthesis of familiar themes and character types from Blume's earlier work. The novel deals with children coping with divorced parents, teenagers searching for self-identity, adults who are on a similar quest, and, as always, a search for love and self validation. As Blume portrays, love and life are never easy, but with patience, perserverance, and time, new beginnings can always be made. The novel almost serves as a text that tells what may have happened to Blume's other characters had we been able to see them develop outside their own texts. However, the novel is more than a mere rehashing of familiar themes. Blume effectively uses themes that she knows best and incorperates them in the novel. Blume is undoubtedly the best Children's and YA novelist this century, but her "adult" novels are where Blume is able to shine. We can only hope that Blume doesn't take as long as a hiatus working on her next adult novel as she did between Smart Women and Summer Sisters. Why Smart Women was ever out of print is a mystery. Read the novel and enjoy. The characters stick under your skin long after the last page is turned.