Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.(2023)

Plot Summary

• From Wikipedia: In 1970, eleven-year-old Margaret Simon is informed by her parents Barbara and Herb that the family is moving from New York City to a New Jersey suburb, as her father received a promotion. Margaret is upset about moving away from her friends and Sylvia, her beloved paternal grandmother. She begins to communicate with God about her concerns, anxieties, and hopes.Upon moving to New Jersey, Margaret is quickly befriended by her neighbor and soon-to-be classmate Nancy Wheeler. She welcomes her into her friend group that includes two other girls, Gretchen Potter and Janie Loomis. Margaret's teacher Mr. Benedict gives the class a year-long research assignment. When he learns Margaret dislikes religious holidays, she explains that since her mother is a Christian and her father is Jewish, her family does not observe the holidays and has left it up to Margaret to decide on her own religious identity as she grows older.Prompted by her school assignment, Margaret asks her mother why she has never met her maternal grandparents. Barbara reveals that she is estranged from her devoutly Christian parents Paul and Mary, who disowned her upon her marriage to a Jewish man. On a weekend visit to New York City, Margaret asks Sylvia to take her to temple, which Sylvia gladly does. Meanwhile, Barbara attempts to fit in with the PTA and signs up for multiple committees, which draws her away from her hobby of painting and teaching art.Margaret and her new friends anticipate the milestones of puberty, such as wearing a bra and having their first kisses. At a classmate's birthday party, Margaret enjoys her first kiss with Philip Leroy, a popular boy in her class, during a game of spin the bottle. After viewing a video about menstruation at school, the girls become excited about starting their periods. Margaret grows impatient when other girls get their periods before her, including Gretchen and Nancy. She and Janie buy sanitary pads at a drugstore to be prepared.One night while out with Nancy and her family in New York City, Margaret learns Nancy lied about getting her period earlier when she actually does get her period. At school, Margaret is assigned a group project with Laura Danker, a classmate who is ostracized by her peers (including Nancy) for being taller and more developed. While working together in the library, Margaret brings up rumors about Laura letting boys "feel her up", upsetting her and causing her to storm out. Margaret feels guilty for shaming her, while questioning her friendship with Nancy.For spring break, Margaret wants to visit Sylvia while she is vacationing in Florida, but these plans are interrupted when Paul and Mary reach out to Barbara and say they want to visit and meet Margaret. Upon learning of the cancellation, Sylvia decides to show up at the Simon house with a friend from Florida on the same day of Paul and Mary's visit.After dinner, when Paul and Mary question Margaret about possibly attending Sunday school, Sylvia retorts that Margaret went to temple with her and has already chosen to become Jewish, sparking an argument between the parents and grandparents. Margaret yells at the adults, proclaiming that she does not care about religion and does not even believe in God.Margaret hands in her research paper to Mr. Benedict, wherein she expresses her disillusionment with religion. Soon, she reconciles with her parents and Sylvia. At the end of the school year, Margaret thanks Mr. Benedict for being a good teacher. She also befriends Laura and asks her to dance, with Janie joining them shortly afterwards. Barbara, who has since returned to teaching painting, tells Nancy's mother Jan, the PTA president, that she will no longer volunteer for PTA committees.Just before leaving for summer camp, Margaret talks to Nancy's older brother Evan's friend Moose, a neighborhood boy who mows her family's lawn and whom she has a crush on, and the two agree to spend time together when she returns. At home, she discovers her first period has arrived and excitedly tells her mother. Margaret then resumes her communication with God.

Storyline

• Margaret Simon is just 11 going on 12 when her family moves from New York City to Fartbrook, New Jersey. Margaret's mother is Christian and her father is Jewish. Margaret has been raised without an affiliation to either faith, and does not practice an organized religion, although she frequently prays to God in her own words, beginning by saying, "Are you there God? It's me, Margaret." She is beginning to feel uncomfortable with her lack of a religious affiliation. For a school assignment, she chooses to study people's religious beliefs, hoping to resolve the question of her own religion in the process. Part of her study involves attending different places of worship to better understand religious practice and also to see if one of them might be right for her. She enjoys spending time with her Jewish paternal grandmother, Sylvia Simon, who loves her as she is, and hopes Margaret will embrace Judaism after taking her to her synagogue for Rosh Hashanah services. — It was spelled incorrectly For over fifty years, Judy Blume's classic Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. has connected with readers through its relatable story, achingly funny details, and candid exploration of life's biggest questions. In Lionsgate's big-screen adaptation, 11-year-old Margaret (Abby Ryder Fortson) is uprooted from her life in New York City for the suburbs of New Jersey, going through the messy and tumultuous throes of puberty with new friends in a new school. She relies on her mother, Barbara (Rachel McAdams), who is also struggling to adjust to life outside the big city, and her adoring grandmother, Sylvia (Kathy Bates), who isn't happy they moved away and likes to remind them every chance she gets. The film also stars Benny Safdie (Licorice Pizza, Good Time) and is written for the screen and directed by Kelly Fremon Craig (The Edge of Seventeen), based on the book by Judy Blume, and produced by Gracie Films' Academy Award® winner James L. Brooks (Best Picture, 1983 - Terms of Endearment), alongside Julie Ansell. Richard Sakai, Kelly Fremon Craig, Judy Blume, Amy Lorraine Brooks, Aldric La'auli Porter, and executive produced by Jonathan McCoy. — Lionsgate 1970. Despite not having lived in a home with religion, eleven year old Margaret Simon starts talking to God in feeling she has no one else to turn to when she believes her life has ended in her parents, Herb and Barbara Simon, deciding to move the family from New York City, the only world Margaret has ever known which includes close contact with Herb's overbearing but loving Jewish mother, Sylvia Simon, to suburban New Jersey in Herb changing jobs. In this new world, Margaret, not knowing what is expected of her, tries solely to fit in being befriended by outwardly confidant classmate Nancy Wheeler, who invites Margaret to join her secret club of four girls total. The nature of the club is for them to talk about what eleven year girls obsess about, namely the issues of puberty, including their changing bodies, most specifically the development of breasts and menstruation, and their developing attraction to boys, as well as gossip about others based solely on outward appearances. Through it all, Margaret feels the need to conform even if it isn't truly what she is feeling and despite the club's motto always to tell the truth. Margaret also learns about the reason for not having a religion and why she has never met her maternal grandparents: Barbara being disowned by her devout Christian parents in marrying someone Jewish, it the reason Herb and Barbara will ultimately let Margaret decide for herself if she ever wants religion in her life. In testing out religions, Margaret may decide if and when she actually does feel God answer any of the questions she has been asking of him. This move is also as much an adjustment for her parents, especially Barbara in giving up her job as an art teacher to become her version of a suburban housewife, which for her means a focus on the house including learning how to cook and being an active participant in the PTA. But Barbara may find that her expectations may not match the reality of what she wants out of this life. — Huggo