It's Not the End of the World
Page 11
“You mean I might go to a different school?”
“You probably will,” Mom said. “Even if we wind up in an apartment around here you’ll all have to change schools.”
“You mean we might take an apartment near Daddy?” I asked.
“Well, it’s a possibility. Or we might take one in New York. I’ve always wanted to live in the city.”
“But what about your job at Global?” I said.
“It’s a temporary job, Karen. I’ll get a better one if we move. Or I might go to school full time until I get my degree.”
“But what about Aunt Ruth? How could you leave her?”
“That will be good for both of us,” Mom said.
“But … but …” I couldn’t think of anything else to say.
Later when I got into bed I remembered that Gary Owens said it’s warm in Houston. So I went back downstairs. “Hey Mom … if we have to move, how about Houston?”
“Houston!” she said, like I was crazy or something. “Why would we want to move there? That’s in Texas.”
“I know it,” I said. “Somebody from my class moved there. It never gets cold.”
Mom said, “Look, Karen … if we move someplace warm it will be California or Florida. But Texas is out of the question. And nothing is settled yet. I told you that before.”
I hope my mother knows what she is doing this time. Suppose we move to Florida and then she decides she doesn’t like it. Do we move back to New Jersey or do we try California or what? I have always lived right here on Woods End Road. I love our house. I don’t want to move anywhere.
Thirty
I got my divorce book!
Debbie is very interested in divorce. Now that I have my book it will be easy to teach her all about it. Even though Debbie says her mother and father are not going to get divorced it can’t hurt her to know the facts. This way she will be prepared for anything!
I talked to Val this afternoon. She says maybe my mother will meet a man when we move. I guess it could happen. Suppose she gets married and her new husband doesn’t like kids? Suppose he’s mean or else very old? There are too many things for me to think about.
If I do move away Val promises to keep an eye on my father and let me know if anything important comes up. I think the idea of my leaving has her feeling pretty sad. She’s not looking forward to summer at all.
“I’ll be around for at least another month,” I told her. “And maybe my mother will decide to stay near here after all. We might wind up living closer than we do now.”
“Or we might not,” Val said.
“Oh, well … even if we don’t we can still write and phone and see each other over vacations.”
“That’s not the same,” Val told me.
“I know it,” I said. Poor Val. I wish there was a book to make you feel happy when you’re not. I would get it for her.
I got a letter from Garfa:
Dear Karen,
I’m sorry that your mother and father are going through with their divorce. But I’m glad you’re getting used to the idea. Mattie tells me not to be so upset. I’ll try to accept the situation too. Don’t blame yourself. You are still my most dependable Karen.
I’m going to buy the divorce book you wrote about. Maybe it will help me understand too. Your father is here and he’s fine, but he misses you a lot.
Love,
Garfa
Thirty-one
Today the sixth graders were invited to spend a day at the junior high. Debbie and I went together. We toured the whole school and had our lunch in the cafeteria. There was plenty of room for us because all the ninth graders were over at the high school getting their tour. I guess Jeff feels pretty grown up now that he’s almost done with junior high.
We met some of the teachers, and the principal made a short speech. He looks fairly young and sounds very nice. I wish I wasn’t going to move away.
On the way home from junior high Debbie said, “I’ll really miss you this summer, Karen. I wish we weren’t going away on vacation.”
“I’ll miss you too,” I told her.
“You’re my best friend.”
“You’re mine.”
“Do you think you’ll have moved by the time I get back?”
“I’m not sure. Nothing’s definite yet. You know my mother.”
“Well … I hope Jeff doesn’t forget about me,” Debbie said. “My mother always says, ‘Absence makes the heart grow fonder.’ ”
“Mine says, ‘Out of sight—out of mind.’ ”
“Oh, Karen!” We both laughed. Debbie knew I was just teasing.
When we got to my house I said, “Come on in … I want to show you my divorce book.”
“I can’t,” Debbie said. “It’s Tuesday—I’ve got ballet.”
“That’s right. How could I forget?”
“Karen … I’ve got something for you.” Debbie reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out two pictures. “Here—” she said.
I looked at them. They were of Debbie making monkey faces.
“My father took them just for you.”
I will never find another friend like Debbie.
Jeff came out of the house then. “Hi, Fat-and-Ugly … long time no see—” he said. I haven’t seen Debbie smile like that in months.
We had Kentucky Fried Chicken for supper. We ate it right out of the box because Mom is taking us to the movies and we don’t want to be late.
While we were eating Amy said, “Hey, Karen, why did the man put Band-Aids in his refrigerator?” She didn’t wait for me to answer. She went right on. “Because it had cold cuts! Get it? Cold cuts!”
“I get it,” I said. Then I laughed. Imagine Amy telling riddles again!
I had a B+ day today.
Judy Blume talks about writing
IT’S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD
When I wrote It’s Not the End of the World in the early seventies, I lived in suburban New Jersey with my husband and two children, who were both in elementary school. I could see their concern and fear each time a family in our neighborhood divorced. What do you say to your friends when you find out their parents are splitting up? If it could happen to them, could it happen to us?
At the time, my own marriage was in trouble, but I wasn’t ready or able to admit it to myself, let alone anyone else. In the hope that it would get better, I dedicated this book to my husband. But a few years later, we, too, divorced. It was hard on all of us, more painful than I could have imagined, but somehow we muddled through, and it wasn’t the end of any of our worlds, though on some days it might have felt like it.
Divorce laws have changed since I wrote this book. You don’t have to go to Nevada or anyplace else to be divorced these days. And unlike Karen’s mother in this book, many women have jobs outside the home, regardless of whether they’re married or have children. Not that a new law or having two working parents makes divorce easy. It still hurts. It still causes the same fears and feelings Karen experiences in this story.
DEENIE
ISBN 978-0-385-73985-6 (trade paperback)
ISBN 978-0-307-81775-4 (ebook)
When Deenie sees the brace for the first time, she wants to scream, “Forget it … I’m never going to wear that thing. Everyone will know. Everyone!”
But the words won’t come out. And Deenie, beautiful Deenie, who everyone says should be a model, is stuck wearing a brace from her neck to her hips. She feels ugly and angry. But only she can figure out how to deal with it. And that’s going to take courage.
THEN AGAIN, MAYBE I WON’T
ISBN 978-0-385-73984-9 (trade paperback)
ISBN 978-0-307-81771-6 (ebook)
When Tony’s dad gets rich and the family moves to a fancy suburb, his life is turned upside down. His mom is obsessed with impressing the neighbors. His new friend, Joel, shoplifts, and Joel’s sixteen-year-old sister, Lisa, gets undressed at night without pulling down the shades. Besides that, what’s Tony supposed to do about his bo
dy? Because that’s changing as fast as the rest of his life.
TIGER EYES
ISBN 978-0-385-73989-4 (trade paperback)
ISBN 978-0-307-81778-5 (ebook)
Davey’s life has been ripped apart. Her father is dead—shot in a holdup. Uprooted by her grieving mother, sent to New Mexico to stay with an aunt and uncle she barely knows, Davey feels trapped—by her aunt and uncle’s fearfulness, by her mother’s grief, by her own anger and pain. Then she meets Wolf—intense, brooding, mysterious Wolf. Without asking questions, he somehow understands what Davey is feeling.
HERE’S TO YOU,
RACHEL ROBINSON
ISBN 978-0-385-73987-0 (trade paperback)
ISBN 978-0-307-81776-1 (ebook)
Rachel seemingly has the perfect life—she’s a straight-A student, a gifted musician, and a good friend. But she feels like her older brother is determined to ruin everything. Her two best friends think he’s funny and they urge Rachel to lighten up, but it’s not so easy. Not even when the coolest boy in ninth grade notices her. Is it possible that the key to a perfect life is something other than perfection?