# Girls are still reading Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [November 12, 2025, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-are-still-reading-are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret/1024801 "2025-11-12T10:36:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-are-still-reading-are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret/1024801/21 "2025-11-12T15:16:07Z")
Ivanhoe was written in 1819 and I loved it almost 160 years later. The Hobbit was already 40 when I read it. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court was from 1889. So almost 90 when I read it. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea was 1970 so over 100 when I read it. It is weird to realize the Heinlein books I devoured at the time were only 11-25 years old. Not really that old at all. > [@Babale](#): > > When did people stop having ice boxes in the US? My dad is in his 60s and as a kid he’d go visit his older brother who worked in an ice factory. But maybe home fridges came to Israel later? My Grandfather was an iceman before he was a cab driver. So he kept the icebox into the 40s, but they were apparently among the last in NYC. I would guess more rural areas kept them longer though. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-are-still-reading-are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret/1024801/22 "2025-11-12T15:19:28Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Twain’s “Tom Sawyer” and “Huckleberry Finn”, “Treasure Island”, and even abridged and kid appropriate versions of “Moby Dick” and “Robinson Crusoe”. I had read them all before I was ten and didn’t find them strange, in fact I loved to learn how things were different in the past. Same here. Loved the classics. I remember being amused by the obsolete technology and terminology. (Nowadays, I’d recognize it as “intrigued by steampunk”, especially The Nautilus!) I read some of those to my kids, and my youngest and I had to read well past bedtime one night, when Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher were lost in the pitch dark cave… we were scared. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-are-still-reading-are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret/1024801/23 "2025-11-12T15:27:07Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > My Grandfather was an iceman before he was a cab driver. So he kept the icebox into the 40s, but they were apparently among the last in NYC. > > I would guess more rural areas kept them longer though. Funnily enough, the opposite was true to an extent in Israel; my mom’s Kibbutz had refrigerators long before they were common in households in the city. Of course, the Kibbutzniks didn’t have fridges in their own homes yet, either. They did get internet early - my grandparents were the first people in my family to have Internet at home. My grandpa was the person who introduced me to Google, haha. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-are-still-reading-are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret/1024801/24 "2025-11-12T15:41:19Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > > [@Jasmine](#): > > > > Your grade school kids are studying Hebrew? Are you in Israel? > > Hebrew school in America can be everything from a Jewish private school that handles all topics, to the Jewish equivalent of Sunday School, to a basically fully secular extracurricular course on Jewish history and the Hebrew language. It depends on who is offering Hebrew School. I was in elementary school in the 1970s and the Jewish kids went to Hebrew school while the Catholic kids went to catechism. I was jealous that I didn’t get to leave school for something else, though I suspect both of those were boring. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-are-still-reading-are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret/1024801/25 "2025-11-12T15:41:28Z")
In the 1993 movie _Shadowlands_, the character of C. S. Lewis is quoted as saying “We read to know that we are not alone”. In reality, he never said this precisely, but in the book _An Experiment in Criticism_, he wrote “My own eyes are not enough for me, I will see through those of others”. What children do in reading many sorts of books is not just learn new vocabulary and grammatical forms in English but learn older kinds of technologies and social forms. I had no problem in giving my grandnephews and grandnieces for Christmas presents things like Stratemeyer Syndicate books (Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, Bobbsey Twins, etc.), _Tom’s Midnight Garden_, _Five Children and It_, T_he Story of Doctor Dolittle_, _Black Beauty_, _The Black Stallion_, and _Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm_. They become better readers, of course. They also become aware of other technologies, other times, other parts of the world, other social classes, and other societies. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-are-still-reading-are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret/1024801/26 "2025-11-12T15:59:07Z")
Kids who have experienced an appropriate level of education and socialization can get their minds around a story set in a different environment but where the message is on point for them. … Re: unfamiliar things in an environment, I sometimes see an opposite phenomenon online in “reaction” videos where (nominally adult) people go “Wait, was there THAT back THEN?” …um, they just showed you, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-are-still-reading-are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret/1024801/27 "2025-11-12T16:01:57Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Re: unfamiliar things in an environment, I sometimes see an opposite phenomenon online in “reaction” videos where (nominally adult) people go “Wait, was there THAT back THEN?” …um, they just showed you, yes. Can you show us some of those reaction videos, because it sounds like they didn’t read much as children? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-are-still-reading-are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret/1024801/28 "2025-11-12T16:23:36Z")
My 15-year-old is currently reading Clavell’s _King Rat_ and when she’s done with that she’s planning to read Brunner’s _Stand on Zanzibar_ (in French). People don’t give kids enough credit for what they’re capable of engaging with if you really encourage their curiosity. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-are-still-reading-are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret/1024801/29 "2025-11-12T16:26:49Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > My 15-year-old is currently reading Clavell’s _King Rat_ That’s a tough read for a 15 year old, I only read it when I was an adult, but I read similar stuff before that age like “Papillon” by Henri Charriére, at 12 or 13. Kids can take it. ETA: I just read the synopsis of “Are You There God? it’s Me, Margaret” on wiki, and those are timeless themes for kids in incipient puberty, notwithstanding the time and place. Although I am male, I remember having similar troubles and questions about my body and sexuality and also about religion and my (fading) relationship with God. No wonder the book still relates to today’s kids. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-are-still-reading-are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret/1024801/30 "2025-11-12T16:41:06Z")
I wonder if boys are still reading _Then Again, Maybe I Won’t…_ ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-are-still-reading-are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret/1024801/31 "2025-11-12T16:54:23Z")
I thought I remembered seeing some news-ish item a couple of weeks ago about some update to _Tales if a 4th Grade Nothing_ (possibly just the cover art) but I can’t find it again. But I did see these two lists. It is interesting about how many of the recommended books in the first list are at least as old as the 1970s. And how little the second list overlaps with it. > **[50 Classic Books Your Fourth Grader Will Love (2025)](https://www.mkewithkids.com/post/classic-books-for-4th-graders/)** > > Introduce your fourth grader to 50 classic books they'll love to read. Foster a lifelong love for reading and storytelling! 📚📖🌟 > **[50 Must-Read Books for Fourth Graders](https://www.boredteachers.com/post/books-for-fourth-graders)** > > Welcome to Amy’s Bookshelf! Here, teachers will find carefully curated book lists for each grade level from kindergarten to twelfth grade. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-are-still-reading-are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret/1024801/32 "2025-11-12T16:57:10Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > I wonder if boys are still reading _Then Again, Maybe I Won’t…_ Only the ones feigning a sudden passion for ornithology. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-are-still-reading-are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret/1024801/33 "2025-11-12T17:00:28Z")
I have also just read the synopsis of this book and approve of the joke. 😄 ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-are-still-reading-are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret/1024801/34 "2025-11-12T17:05:48Z")
Seconded 😅 ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-are-still-reading-are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret/1024801/35 "2025-11-12T17:17:28Z")
At least the covers don’t emphasize the creepy stalker aspect. Oh, wait… [![](https://i.imgur.com/ZNAeU1m.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/ZNAeU1m.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-are-still-reading-are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret/1024801/36 "2025-11-12T17:49:06Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I’m in my sixties, and I’ve never seen an ice box that was still used as an ice box. When I was a kid I just thought “ice box” was a slang term for a refrigerator (I’m in my mid 40s). I’m not sure at what point I realized people used to have literal ice boxes to keep their food cool. (In fairness, lots of people did call fridges that long after actual ice boxes fell out of use). Getting back to the OP, when I was in middle school in the early 1990s I read lots of early Beverly Cleary books, stuff she wrote in the 1950s. I’m sure I noticed some things like different customs of the time, but I still was able to identify with the characters. I just recently watched the film adatation of _Are You There God? It’s Me, Margret_. It’s currently available on Netflix in the US. They just set the film in 1970 rather than trying to modernize it, which was probably the right move. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-are-still-reading-are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret/1024801/37 "2025-11-12T18:00:25Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > When I was a kid I just thought “ice box” was a slang term for a refrigerator For some people it was, my mom occasionally called it the fridge the ice box. I knew people that called it the Frigidaire also. When she got sick at one point and I did the shopping for her, I had to ask an older lady in the supermarket what Oleo was as that is what my Mom wrote for margarine. That was the first big name brand of margarine apparently. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-are-still-reading-are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret/1024801/38 "2025-11-12T18:01:59Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > > [@Cervaise](#): > > > > My 15-year-old is currently reading Clavell’s _King Rat_ > > That’s a tough read for a 15 year old I read it at 13 but then WWII hadn’t been over twenty years yet and I had an interest in the subject. I read _[The Sand Pebbles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sand_Pebbles_(novel))_ at twelve, right after my father was done with it and [_Guadalcanal Diary_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadalcanal_Diary_(book)) sometime in elementary school. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-are-still-reading-are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret/1024801/39 "2025-11-12T18:40:33Z")
For Judy Blume fans there is a service area dedicated to her on the Garden State Parkway. It was recently revamped and has a nice display about her and other New Jersey authors. And there is a Shake Shack. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-are-still-reading-are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret/1024801/40 "2025-11-12T19:17:29Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I knew people that called it the Frigidaire also My grandma does that! I didn’t know that any Americans did it too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-are-still-reading-are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret/1024801.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-are-still-reading-are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret/1024801.md?page=3)