“Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself” by Judy Blume

I found “Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself” by Judy Blume in my stocking the Christmas before my 10^th birthday. Over the years, it has become one of my favorite novels. Although marketed as a young adult book, Sally as much to offer grown-ups as well.

The book is written in the third person from the main character, Sally’s, point of view. It tells the story of a 10-year-old Jewish girl spending a winter in Miami with her grandmother, mother and older brother Douglas. Her father, a dentist, is staying in New York. The family is living apart because Sally’s older brother has health problems and requires a warm climate to stay well.

The story is set two years after the end of World War II. Sally’s cousin, Lila, and her great aunt, Tante Rose died in Dachau. As Sally gets used to a new school, she makes new friends, dreams of becoming a movie star and ponders the mysteries of life and death.

Although Judy Blume never uses words like grief or bereavement, Sally encounters death in several contexts. Her neighbor’s cat is run over, for instance, and the father of one of her classmates died in the war.

She also frequently looks at pictures of her aunt and cousin. She wishes she had been old enough to fight so she could have saved them. Sometimes she makes up stories about volunteering for the army, rescuing Lila and Rose and bringing them home again.

Sally focuses on the Holocaust in another way as well. She believes a man who lives in her apartment building bears an uncanny resemblance to Adolf Hitler. She is afraid that he is still planning to harm Jews and spies on him so she can give the police enough evidence to arrest him and bring him to justice for his horrific crimes.

Meanwhile, another Jewish couple in Sally’s building has a teenage daughter named Bubbles, whom they adore. Bubbles is secretly dating a non-Jewish boy. She becomes pregnant by him. Her family immediately disowns her and even “sits shivah” for her. Sitting shivah is a Jewish custom in which bereaved people receive visitors for a few days after a death to offer them support and condolences. Sally’s grandmother, Ma Fanny angrily refuses to participate in this ritual for Bubbles. When Sally asks her why, Ma Fanny tells Sally that she had had a son who died in infancy. “They should only know what it’s like to really lose a child,” she says.

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But perhaps Sally’s most important struggles with death have to do with her father. He has just turned 42, the age at which both of his older brothers died. Sally is afraid of losing her beloved father, but she has no one with whom she can share her fears. Her brother doesn’t want to talk about it, and her mother cries whenever the subject comes up. Finally Sally’s father comes for a Hanukah visit and tells her that he, too, has been thinking about his brothers’ deaths. Sally cries in relief at being able to express her fear, even though her father cannot promise not to die.

“Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself” raises a lot of difficult questions but is wise enough not to provide empty answers. For instance, the book ends before Sally’s father turns 43, so the reader cannot be sure he will live through the year. Younger readers may find this aspect of the book upsetting. Parents of children reading the book should plan to be on hand to provide information and emotional support.

I would recommend “Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself” to anyone who wants to explore the uncertainties of life. If you are looking for gift ideas for a young adult reader, this book should definitely be on your shopping list.