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Author:
Judy Blume who lives in New York and has written nineteen novels for young people. They have been translated into sixteen languages. She is known and loved by millions of readers for her funny, honest, always believable stories.
Plot synopsis:
Katherine and Michael meet at a New Years Eve party.
They are attracted to each other and grow to love each other. Once they have decided their love is forever, they make love.
Its the beginning of an intense and exclusive relationship, with a future all planned. Until Katherine's parents insist that she and Michael put their love to the test with a summer apart...
Main characters:
The narrator of this novel is Katherine ( Kath ) Danziger, an eighteen year old girl, who lives in Westfield. One of her hobbies is tennis which she has been playing since she was eight. Katherine is a real romantic and love means more than sex to her.
She also has a good relation to her parents because they talk about everything very openly and Katherine is always allowed to invite her boyfriends home.
Erica is one of Katherine's best friends since ninth grade. They have no secrets and that's why they know everything about each other. Erica's sign is that she is very little but they are a good pair because she is outspoken and uninhibited and Katherine not. Erica is the person who says that she is a realist and not a romantic. Both look at sex differently because Erica sees it as a physical thing and Katherine sees it as a way of expressing love.
Michael Wagner is the boy who Katherine met at the New Years Eve party.
He comes from Summit, has reddish- blond hair and always wears glasses.
He is different than the other boys Katherine knew. Michael can make compliments, is attentive and does not force Katherine to do something she is not ready for. Kath is something special for him and that's why he does everything not to lose her.
Artie is a good friend of Michael and by Kath is he the perfect friend for Erica.
Katherines family consists of her mother Diana Danziger, her father and her sister Jamie.
Her mother is a very thin and small breasted person. She is a librarian and only wants the best for her daughter.
Her father is a pharmacist and is also very big on physical activity.
Her sister Jamie is five years younger than Kath but a beautiful person who likes to cook. Katherine said that if she would be some years older she would be jealous of her sister but not only of the fact that she can cook.
Interpretation:
It was Erica's idea to go to this New Years Eve party where Kath met Michael for the first time. She was interested in him before she admitted it to anyone.
So this was the beginning of an intense relationship.
Michael always asked her if he was going to do something wrong. She liked his character, his appearance and also his closeness made her feel good.
He was different than some other boys because sex was not all he was interested in. That's why they often talked openly about their emotions but when Michael asked her if she is still a virgin Kath was a little bit embarrassed.
During their free time they made a lot with Erica and Artie even though they enjoyed it to be alone, to kiss and to make experiences with the first tenderness. Erica was very curious and liked to talk about sex with Kath but Katherine wanted her first intercourse to be special and as romantic as possible.
So she was ready to introduce Michael to her parents and grandparents but there was only one problem. When Michael wanted to sleep with her she was not ready- mentally ready- and so Katherine tried to explain that she has to control her body with her mind. It was special because she thought about making love with him, so sometimes she wanted so much but other times she was afraid.
Her parents were not very happy when Michael invited Kath to Vermont to ski and that's why they had to think it over if she is allowed to go.
Erica meant that fathers have complexes about their little girl, so they can't stand the thought of their precious darlings having sex.
Even though she was allowed to go and Michael always told her that he loves her. Kath was not really sure because she thought how can he love her when he has seen her nineteen times in his life ?!
As they came home the first thing Katherine's parents wanted to know was if everything was OK with them because spending a lot of time together can end a romance faster than anything else. Kath was sure that being together made them stronger.
Once they went to the apartment of his sister to be alone. She wanted to do everything, wanted to feel him inside her. For the first time they used a condom but it was not as romantic as she wanted it to because there was a little problem:
he came before he even got in. Katherine was not disappointed because in the pamphlets from planned parenthood on birth control, abortion and venereal diseases she got from her parents she read that having sex for the first time was not exciting for a virgin.
Nevertheless, her relationship to Michael was perfect only her parents were disappointed that Katherine grow away from her other friends.
Kath knew what she wanted and decided once to go to a clinic in New York where she was given a prescription for the pill after answering personal questions. On her eighteen birthday she got a silver disk engraved with Kath and Michael forever. In this happy moments she told him about taking the pill.
Time went over and she thought about working this summer. Her parents suggested her to go to New Hampshire for seven weeks as an assistant tennis counsellor. After quarrelling and trying to convince them not to go she had no chance because they insisted on a change of scenery for her.
Katherine was desperate how to explain Michael her summer plans but he also said that he got a job in North Carolina, so she did not want to think about facing the summer without him.
After the graduations Kath and her sister Jamie left for camp. They wrote each other everyday writing how they miss each other more and more and that's why the nights were the worst trying not to think of Michael.
But there was also Theo, the head tennis counsellor. Katherine liked his light green eyes, his brown hair and his patience with the kids and it also seemed that there was something growing between them.
At that point she asked herself how she can love a person and still be attracted to another. After she got the news that her grandfather died Theo comforted her and Kath used this situation to kiss him but he untangled himself and said no, not with dead for an excuse. In the next letter she wrote Michael she explained that something changed and that she met one who got her mixed up.
When Michael once visited her and kissed her she could not let herself feel anything but there was the problem Kath could not tell him what was going on.
He was angry and called her attention to the word forever. For her it was over and they saw each other one more time where she said she will never be sorry for loving him.
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