Six Degrees: Judy Blume’s Margaret & Six Little Women

It’s time for #6degrees. Start at the same place as other wonderful readers, add six books, and see where you end up. Inspired by the Six Degrees of Separation Meme hosted every month at Books are my Favorite and Best.

December 2020’s book is Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume, a book that’s been around for 50 years.

^{Margaret Simon, almost twelve, likes long hair, tuna fish, the smell of rain, and things that are pink. She’s just moved from New York City to Farbook, New Jersey, and is anxious to fit in with her new friends—Nancy, Gretchen, and Janie. When they form a secret club to talk about private subjects like boys, bras, and getting their first periods, Margaret is happy to belong.
But none of them can believe Margaret doesn’t have religion, and that she isn’t going to the Y or the Jewish Community Center. What they don’t know is Margaret has her own very special relationship with God. She can talk to God about everything—family, friends, even Moose Freed, her secret crush.}

Are you There God made me nostalgic for all those vintage childhood reads about important turning points in the lives of the protagonists — and of the readers. These cherished books were published long back but ring true for every age.

Book 1

The very first book — or rather series — that comes to mind is Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (1908). This story about the head-in-the-clouds, “carrot”-haired Anne Shirley who is adopted by the Cuthberts of Green Gables is a perennial favorite. But it’s not just about Anne. Every single character in this series is so well-drawn, so accessible, so endearing despite all their oddities. Small towns were never so beloved, as in this book/ series.

Book 2

Speaking of small towns reminds of the village of Dorfli in the book, Heidi by Johanna Spyri (1881). Another book with all the feels, where the titular character is taken up by her grandfather to live in the mountains. Heidi is a darling, and her happy-go-lucky simplicity and affection soon changes the lives of those around her for the better. Heidi‘s translator, Charles Tritten, wrote a few sequels too in the 1930s, many years after Spyri died.

Book 3

There’s another message about the power of love in Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher (1998), which I reviewed some time back. This book is about Marjan, a physically disabled servant girl, who helps Princess Shahrazad in acquiring new stories for The Thousand and One Arabian Nights. Shadow Spinner has astonishing insight on the conflicted nature of human emotion. As Shahrazad says:

“There’s nothing wrong with loving someone. It’s hating — that’s what’s wrong.”

Book 4

And who can ever forget Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865)? There’s something ageless about Alice, as she falls down a rabbit hole, hobnobs with a mad hare, an ever-grinning cat and a hookah-smoking caterpillar, and still manages to think of six impossible things before breakfast. Nothing but a pack of cards, but what an immortal story.

Book 5

The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope (1974) is another perennial favorite and I cannot recommend it enough. It’s based on the Tam Lin legend which I adore. A series of tough choices are before Kate Sutton, including making a sacrifice for her younger sister, attempting to rescue an ensorcelled friend, and more perilously yet, foregoing an offer for “easy” but inauthentic happiness. Kate Sutton is one of my all-time favorite heroines in fiction.

Book 6

The last book here is The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (1947). This remarkable diary was written by teenager Anne when she was in hiding with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. Anne writes about all the things that matter to young girls, but always in the background is the inescapable fact that she lives in hiding. In 2009, UNESCO included the diary in the Memory of the World Register.

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Do you participate in the Six Degrees meme? Do leave a note if you do!