Deenie

The brace looks like the one Dr. Kliner showed us three weeks earlier. It's the ugliest thing I ever saw.

I have to give the story credit - to my adult mind this vintage YA is still five stars.

I read it at least three times growing up, but reading again was not boring in the slightest. Some of it came back to me, most I'd forgotten. It starts a little awkward but settles in fast thanks to Judy Blume's talented hand. She keeps the wording simple and the sentences short, but she's able to convey a wide range of emotion in doing this.

Deenie would be an invaluable book for someone that age having to struggle with the diagnosis of scoliosis and wearing that life-changing brace for four years - it's inspirational, it feels real, and it's show more encouraging. Deenie isn't perfect - Blume rarely writes characters who are - but the short hand she's dealt in life does have the positive purpose of transforming her outlook on other people who also have issues. It changes the way she sees Barbara with her eczema, the 'special needs kids', and the elderly woman with the hunchback.

I know some may see this as a condition she received to teach her a lesson, that there are those different from her, but I prefer to think the author meant that by a coincidence Deenie was able to open her eyes further when she herself receives the unsettling diagnosis. I don't think the event was created to make Deenie change - I just think the author showed how events like this can make people change in positive ways.

Masturbation isn't discussed too much, but it's brought up a few times, including Deenie writing an anonymous question about it to the gym coach. I'm so saddened this book has been banned before because it discusses this just to say there's no shame. In 2004, the American Library Association labeled Blume the second most censored author in the past 15 years. Here is a good article discussing the issues of why Deenie has been so banned. Read these endearing children's letters about this and the aftermath to Judy Blume on this website, it was illuminating.

Do normal people touch their bodies before they go to sleep and it is all right to do that? (p 82)

Blume could have just written about an average girl getting scoliosis, but she threw in another issue some teens will relate to - parents who try to shape their kids into what they want them to be. Mothers who separate children by talents. "Deenie's the beauty, Helen's the brain." In fact, Blume based the inspiration off of meeting a 14 year old girl who wore a brace and was adjusting, but her mother was the one on tears and coping poorly.

The book wins because it's not focusing on a certain condition, but an unchangeable event that will make a kid feel even more different than they already do. It touches briefly upon (and it was amusing really) masturbation and questions about this as well. It shows how some people stand out as different due to conditions, but that everyone is still the same and to be treated well.

It's a short book but it holds a powerful punch. Especially great for teenage minds who already feel isolated because of their age and those pesky hormones. show less

Another one of everyone's childhood favorite, that I read too late in life, and thus failed to get on board the rave train with everyone else. I probably need a middle-grader to explain all the hype, or just stop reading any more books aimed at this age group.

Wilmadeenie (a.k.a. Deenie) Fenner is your everyday pretty and entitled 13-year-old, plagued by the usual problems of the popular: friends, boys, cheerleadimg, and of course, outsiders to avoid. But most importantly, finally pass one of those damned modelling auditions, because all her mother's nagging is really annoying. Plus, she's weary of walking around with books on her head.

A failed cheerleading audition gets Deenie sent to the doctor, where she's eventually diagnosed with show more scoliosis, doomed to wear a brace for the next four years. I say doomed, but it's mainly her mother getting needlessly excited over it, not that her ignorance isn't utterly painful and enraging to watch. At the same time, beyond Deenie's immediate bonus of getting to drop the modelling auditions, is the uncomfortable revelation that she is now one of the handicapped kids, that she's been avoiding all these years.

This is your usual cautionary tale, of not being needlessly judgmental, because one day it could happen to you, mixed with a heavy dose of little girls can be anything they want, so stop pushing them into ready-made boxes. And on that note, let's hear three cheers for Helen, Deenie's older sister: the brains and empathy of the family.

To the author's credit, she addresses a whole host of teenage issues: prejudice against handicapped people, overbearing mothers, people with skin conditions, adoring fans, dating, masturbation, that one friend the boys always overlook... Unfortunately, as the book is only 164 pages long, only the first two get properly explored.

That said, overall I was truly impressed with everyone's kind and reasonable response to Deenie's affliction: starting with the heroine's best friends, followed by Helen, and even Deenie's love interest... if in a somewhat questionable manner. But then there was also Mrs. Fenner, who just needs to be throttled: three separate doctor's appointments and she still suspects her daughter's bad posture is intentional!

Score: 2.7/5 stars

Deenie is an educational story wrapped in some very cute packaging, definitely recommended to middle-grader girls all around, even 50 years after it was written. Proof that this is one of those books that does, in fact, age well. Well, mostly: describing someone's skin condition as creeping curd conjured some rather disgusting images in my mind. show less

Deenie is a complex, and often unlikable character--Blume is very, very honest in her portrayal of this thirteen year old girl, who spends much of the novel bemoaning her life and talking about how ugly people gross her out. But it's this honesty that carries the novel--the sheer, sad accuracy of this working class family and of Deenie's middle school peer group are what make these novels much, much better than (say) the Babysitter's Club. Oh, and you'll learn plenty about scoliosis, too.

This Judy Blume book was not on my radar as a tween/teen so it was interesting reading it as an adult. Deenie is a young girl with aspirations to be a model. These aspirations are fueled by her mother, who refers to Deenie as the pretty one and Deenie's sister Helen as the brain. She is experiencing a lot of the emotional changes and milestones that many seventh graders face; maturing bodies, interest in boys, etc. Deenie gets hit with the double whammy of not making the cheerleading squad and the modeling audition. Her phys. ed. teacher notices her posture seems off and Deenie is soon diagnosed with scoliosis and has to wear a corrective back brace. I always thought Judy Blume excelled at getting inside young girls heads and writing show more about their deepest thoughts and fears. Even as an adult I could relate to Deenie's struggle to remain normal in the face of a life-changing event. Times have changed and scoliosis is no longer treated with back braces described in this book but you can easily replace it with dental headgear or glasses and it would still resonate. I would recommend this book for readers ages 10-14 either entering upper elementary or middle school. show less

One of those teen classics I'd never read. Deenie is believably shallow--a product of her mother's obsession with Deenie's modeling--and her changes over the course of the book are swift (it's only 144 pages) but satisfying. She's largely unlikeable at first, but by the end she's a very sympathetic character. I'm confused as to what Blume is "saying" with the Buddy storyline, though--basically Deenie's scoliosis brace keeps him from feeling her up, and that's all right with both parties?

Like most other Judy Blume books, it's marketed towards tweens, but some individual sexual content may raise some objections from parents of younger tweens.

it's fun to read old classics, so i'm currently going through Judy Blume's catalog and enjoying it. She's got a smooth, easy style, and I feel like I'm getting insight into the minds of tweener girls. Tweener girls from the 70s, at least.

Deenie is about a 13-year old girl who has a pretty good life, apart from her overbearing mother. But when she tries out for cheerleading, her gym teacher notices something: Deenie’s hips are uneven. After seeing several doctors and specialists, she is diagnosed with scoliosis. Deenie now has to wear a Milwaukee Brace until she completes her growth spurt around age 17. She is devastated. When she gets her brace, we see Deenie go through the 5 stages of grief as they pertain to her condition. She angrily cuts off her hair at one point, but eventually accepts that her brace is part of her life now. Deenie actually deals with this fairly well compared to the adults in her life. Her mother is a stage mom who drags her to modeling agencies show more in hopes of getting her signed, and she has the most trouble accepting her daughter’s fate. Her father and older sister are much more realistic and supportive, although Deenie’s medical care affects both of them in ways they hadn’t anticipated. Deenie’s school principal decides that Deenie is crippled now, and tries to get her to ride the short bus to school. But Deenie’s friends are made of sterner stuff than the adults. They don’t reject her because of the change in her life. show less