Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself by Judy Blume

 

Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself by Judy Blume

Along with Margaret, this is one of Blume’s books that I re-read most in childhood. I loved Sally because I also imagined stories and acted them out while playing, and I hadn’t seen that represented in a book until I read this one. This edition included a note from Blume explaining how this is her most autobiographical book, and I believe that explains why I'm drawn to this author's work overall, and keep re-reading this book in particular.

Something made me think of it recently and I wanted to re-read it. I often used to randomly think of the hibiscus flower Sally put behind her ear on the first day of her new school in Florida. I remember thinking how glamorous it would be to live in Florida for a year. At the end of middle school and the first year or two of high school, my family would go spend a week or so in Florida at the end of summer. Coming back home and going to school always felt like such a letdown, and I often thought of this book, wondering who I'd be if I had the chance to go to school in Florida for a year. Of course, that daydream involved me turning into a complete beach bum and laid-back popular kid, which never would have happened, but isn't that the point of daydreams and living many lives through books?

Overall, this book still held up and was really engaging to me. I definitely remembered the feelings of childhood due to situations in the book, and also loved how it's historical fiction in a way as well. Reading it now, I did identify a bit more with the mother worrying about her children, and I didn't see the move as glamorous as I thought as a kid - more fraught and necessary. It was actually really interesting to read it as an adult and identify with the mother while still feeling transported back to childhood and reliving my memories of reading this decades ago.