It’s a really fun book to read – Sally was one of my favorites of her characters. Judy Blume writes all of these fantasies out, too – as though they are happening. Sally also has violent revenge fantasies, where she meets Hitler face to face. Sally can’t stop thinking about Lila, and making up alternate endings for Lila. Sally’s family is Jewish, and they had relatives back in Poland who were killed by the Nazis – and Sally is haunted by one of those relatives – Lila, who died in a concentration camp. It may be seen as an “escape” – but look at what Judy Blume was eventually able to do with such childiish “daydreaming”. She “makes up stories” – which is really just another word for “daydreaming” – but it’s how Sally negotiates life. (Also, there are hints of adult unhappiness on the fringes of this book – Sally absorbs her parents troubles, etc.) But Sally has this whole secret LIFE going on – to combat her anxiety. Freedman and her family move to Miami Beach – Sally is in the 5th grade, I believe, and she’s worried about making friends. The book takes place in the late 1940s – after WWII – Sally J. In the author’s note at the end of this book, Blume reveals that this is her most autobiographical book.
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