Deenie (1973) by Judy Blume

 

Deenie is a beautiful, if somewhat vain twelve year old whose mother desperately wants to become a model. The agents Deenie is sent to note she is a pretty girl, but there is something strange in the way she walks. She also isn't picked for the school cheerleading squad which really meant a lot more to her than modeling.

 

Deenie has a rather snotty attitude in the beginning of the book. She avoids looking at anyone who isn't beautiful, snubs a classmate who has an annoying girl crush on her, steers clear of a neighbor who was in a wreck which left her handicapped and doesn't want to hold hands with her gym partner who has eczema.  

 

Her mother is downright horrible. Besides pressuring Deenie into a modeling career, she has decided, from birth, that Deenie is the beautiful one and Deenie's older sister Helen is the smart one and treats them both accordingly. A huge disservice to both girls. Deenie isn't expected to make good grades like Helen and thinks being a model or a homemaker are her only career options.

 

Everything changes when the gym teacher notices Deenie has a problem with her posture. She calls her in for a scoliosis test (they didn't do this routinely for all the girls back in the 70's?). Deenie is sent to specialists who confirm the diagnosis. The mom, as you've probably guessed, acts like a total drama queen about the situation, and Deenie is upset to overhear her parents arguing about her condition.

 

There is a really weird segue where, distressed at hearing her parents fighting, Deenie runs up to her room and starts masturbating. Because this is a Judy Blume book, if you are reading this as a twelve year old there is going to be something you've never heard of before, such as periods or wet dreams. In Deenie, it's masturbation.

 

Deenie decides that having an operation to treat her scoliosis is the lesser of two evils, but her doctor recommends that she wear a Milwaukee brace for four years, until she's stopped growing. Ms. Blume must have done her research, because we get to see exactly what it's like to be fitted for a scoliosis brace.

 

a brace similar to one Deenie would have worn

While waiting for her brace to be made, Deenie works up the courage to send an anonymous question to the gym teacher about whether or not it's okay for her to masturbate. We get a very positive and open response with the teacher telling the girls that it's normal and not to worry about the strange superstitions they've heard about the subject (making you go blind, break out in pimples, going deformed). Deenie is relieved to know masturbation is not the cause of her scoliosis. 

 

The moment of truth arrives and Deenie receives her back brace. When she gets home, in a fit of hysteria, Deenie hacks off all her hair like her namesake in Splendor in the Grass. Reactions at school range from those who look at her pityingly and ask if she's been in an accident to those who can't even look at her at all. Deenie's crush, Buddy, is amazingly supportive for an adolescent boy and the brace doesn't stop Susan from copying her.

 

The book's conclusion finds Deenie a more mature, compassionate person. She makes friends with the girl with eczema and stops judging people based on their appearances. Deenie begs her father to let her go without her brace for her friend's party, but in the end she realizes that he was right and she should wear it all the time. There is a minor subplot involving Deenie's sister falling in love with their father's employee and their mother standing in the way of that. The mother doesn't really change much.