Margaret Simon

Character Analysis

Just Your Average Tween

In a lot of ways Margaret is an average eleven-going-on-twelve year old. She has parents who she loves, but drive her a little bit nuts, and pretty awesome friendships that aren't at all immune to drama. Sounds pretty typical, right? We've all been in Margaret's shoes at some point, and transitioning from childhood to adolescence is always a little complicated (otherwise there'd probably be a lot fewer books written about it).

A Little Different

There's some serious drama in Margaret's backstory, including a Christian Mom, a Jewish Dad, and some majorly close-minded grandparents. And so we come to the first thing that makes Margaret different than other kids, or at least other kids in Farbrook, New Jersey: she doesn't have a religion. At least for now. She explains:

I'm supposed to choose my own when I grow up. If I want to, that is. (6.9)

This is how her parents have decided to handle coming from different religious backgrounds. They feel no need to assign their daughter a religion, and figure she can choose for herself once she's older. And while this didn't raise any eyebrows in New York—Margaret says nobody "ever asked me about my religion" (6.11)—in Farbrook, New Jersey religion carries a whole lot of weight. As Margaret says, "Now all of a sudden, it was the big thing in my life" (6.11). In other words, all of a sudden not having a set religion really matters in Margaret's world.

One of the reasons not having a religion is such a big deal in Farbrook is because religion dictates whether kids join the YMCA or the JCC (guess religious diversity isn't huge in the area). And while Margaret comes to a logical solution to this problem when asked which her family will join—she says, "'Maybe we won't join either one'" (5.75)—her friends don't exactly follow. Nancy says, "'But everybody belongs to one or the other'" (5.76), which lets us know that a lot more than physical fitness goes down at the JCC and the YMCA.

It seems like belonging to the Y or the JCC is key to your social life in Farbrook, so by not having a religious affiliation, Margaret risk exclusion from one of ways in which kids at her school spend time together. Plus it marks her as different, which is pretty much the exact opposite of what she wants.

Just Be Yourself

The cool thing about all this pressure to pick a side, though, is that it leads Margaret to embark on her yearlong religious exploration project. And while she experiences plenty of frustration along the way, she also spends time really thinking about the world and faith and religion, which is pretty serious stuff for a sixth grader to think about. It's also, of course, stuff that helps us come into our own as people, so the work Margaret does isn't just about religion—it's about getting to know herself, too.

Importantly, we never know where Margaret lands. We never see her sign-up at the Y or the JCC, and though she tries church and temple, both leave her pretty unsatisfied. The only thing we know for certain is that she comes back to God after rejecting him for a bit (in a classic tween thanks-for-nothing huff), and because of this two key things emerge as important in this book: individuality and faith (instead of religion). Ultimately all Margaret needs to get by is to stick to what works for her, which in her case is talking to God in her bedroom.

Faith First

But religion isn't just a social matter for Margaret, and one reason the pressure to pick a side creates so much drama for her is that she has already developed a relationship with God, all by herself and without religious influence. Margaret and God talk on the regular, and he's one of the main folks she turns to for guidance. Things have been pretty swell in this department, and the insistence that she need to join a formalized religion is at complete odds with how Margaret's been rolling.

Another way to think about it is like this: The thing she's had going with God hasn't seemed broken to her, and yet everybody is pressuring her to fix it. No wonder she's confused, right? And no wonder she's not satisfied when she goes to church and temple—Margaret's already found what she needs in the comfort of her own home.

After a particularly enjoyable church visit, Margaret comes home and talks to God. Check it out:

Are you there God? It's me, Margaret. I just came home from church. I loved the choir—the songs were so beautiful. Still, I didn't really feel you God. I'm trying hard to understand but I wish you'd help me a little. If only you could give a hint God. Which religion should I be? Sometimes I wish I'd been born one way or another. (15.5)

She liked going to church, and she really enjoyed the choir, but the place she goes to talk to God is her bedroom at home. After spending all morning in a place of worship, Margaret still connects best with God in the same place she always has.

And Margaret doesn't write organized religion off after one try—remember, this is her yearlong project for school—but no matter where she visits, Margaret doesn't find what everyone seems to think she will: a connection with God. Understandably, our girl starts to get pretty frustrated. And who does she express her frustration to? If you guessed God, then go ahead and give yourself a gold star. Margaret says:

I've been looking for you God. I looked in temple. I looked in church. And today, I looked for you when I wanted to confess. But you weren't there. I didn't feel you at all. Not the way I do when I talked to you at night. Why God? Why do I only feel you when I'm alone? (19.57)

Here's where faith really comes into this book. As Margaret visits places of worship and doesn't feel God in them, her frustration about picking a side grows. How could it not? And yet, by and large, her faith in God doesn't waiver. Time and again she brings her uncertainty to him, whether it's about choosing a religion or dancing with the boy of her choosing at the square dance, and when she does throw in the towel on God, it isn't for long. Her friends might value religion because it syncs them up with the JCC or the Y, but Margaret's got a pretty devoted and personal relationship with God.

Family First

So we know that God and religion feature pretty heavily in Margaret's life—along with bras, boys, and periods, of course—but Margaret's also got a sort of complex family life. And while she and her parents and her Grandma Sylvia are all pretty close, the same can't be said about her mom's parents. Those grandparents ditched Margaret's family when her parents decided to get married even though they were from different religious backgrounds. Scandalous, right? At least according to Margaret's Hutchins grandparents anyway. This is how her mom explains the rift:

All the way to the airport my mother briefed me. "Margaret, I'm not trying to make excuses for my mother and father. But I want you to know that your grandparents have their beliefs too. And fourteen years ago… well… they did what they thought was right. Even though we know it was cruel. Their beliefs were that important to them. Am I making any sense to you?" (21.10)

Though it's sweet that Grandma and Grandpa Hutchins have decided to visit after fourteen years of silence, their decision to disappear from their daughter's life over her marriage to a man from a different religious background doesn't make a very compelling argument for organized religion.

Think about it this way: Margaret keeps getting told to join a religion, that doing so will set her up with a group of people, and yet arguably the biggest impact that organized religion has had on Margaret's life has been the division of her family. And so even though her parents don't pressure her to join a religion at all—and Grandma Sylvia generally keeps her hopes that Margaret will choose Judaism to herself (with some exceptions)—Margaret's family has already sent her a message about religion, loud and clear… if also silently.

Finding Her Own Way

The long and the short of it is this: Margaret's a girl with a lot on her mind, from typical growing up stuff to major life questions. And you know who's always there for her? God. He may not talk back, but at least he always listens. And at eleven-going-on-twelve, surrounded by people who think they know what's best for her, Margaret could use a patient ear.