It's Not the End of the World

This classic Judy Blume novel sensitively explores the emotional turmoil of a child experiencing her parents' divorce. Karen Newman, a sixth grader, is devastated when her parents decide to separate and divorce, and she tries every tactic she can imagine to bring them back together. The story realistically portrays Karen's fear, frustration, and sadness, as well as her eventual journey towards acceptance and understanding that life, though changed, will continue. It's an excellent resource for opening conversations about family changes and validating a child's complex feelings during such a difficult time.

Can Karen keep her parents from getting a divorce? This classic novel from Judy Blume has a fresh new look. Karen couldn’t tell Mrs. Singer why she had to take her Viking diorama out of the sixth-grade showcase. She felt like yelling, “To keep my parents from getting divorced!” But she couldn’t say it, and the whole class was looking at her anyway. Karen’s world was ending. Her father had moved out of the house weeks before; now he was going to Las Vegas to get divorced, and her mother was pleased! She had only a few days to get the two of them together in the same room. Maybe, if she could, they would just forget about the divorce. Then the Newman family could be its old self again—maybe. But Karen knew something she didn’t know last winter: that sometimes people who shouldn’t be apart are impossible together.