History YMMV / AreYouThereGodItsMeMargaret

** Mr. Benedict gawking over an elementary schooler was weird in the the 1970s when the book was released and is set, but the characters never think to tell anyone about this. There's no way a teacher who's obviously attracted to 11-year-olds, no matter how [[YoungerThanTheyLook much older they appear to look]], would be allowed to teach anymore, especially when doing so their ''first year'' as a teacher. However, Margaret admits that she's never seen him gawking -- it's just another story that Nancy gossips about with her posse, and Nancy isn't exactly a [[KnowNothingKnowItAll reliable source of information]]. This element is completely removed from the film adaptation, most likely to avoid arguments over whether Nancy's claims are true and thus whether Mr. Benedict is trustworthy.

** The characters views on religion, while not that rare in America, come off as dated. In the start of the 1970s, more Americans were devout and there wasn't much knowledge about religions other than Christianity and Judaism with the latter being treated as fringe and rarely seen. In her letter to Mr. Benedict, Margaret writes than she hasn't tried to be a Buddhist or a "Moslim"(sic) because she didn't know anyone of those faiths. These days, Margaret's parents choosing to raise her in a secular environment (and being in a mixed marriage) wouldn't be seen as surprising -- it's steadily becoming the norm in a lot of areas.
** Nancy shames Gretchen for eating too many Oreos because of her weight--[[WeightWoe shaming her into putting some back]] and after Gretchen gets her period she's told by her mom she'll have to watch her weight from now on. This body shaming for a girl at the early stages of puberty is completely dropped in the movie and Gretchen being slightly larger than her friends size wise is never mentioned.

** With more and more people in America becoming more relaxed about their religious views (or even deciding they don't have any at all) as well as mixed-faith families becoming more mainstream, Margaret's parents' decision to not have either parent convert and instead each keep their own faith (albeit casually), while raising their daughter without any religion with the intent of letting her decide for herself when gets older, is seen as a very sensible and open-minded way to go. Similarly, Margaret's exploration of different religions to try and figure out which one suits her best before ultimately deciding she doesn't need to belong to any specific faith to have a relationship with God, is a much more common sentiment today -- how many people have you heard describe themselves as "spiritual, but not religious"?
** Barbara's parents' religion-based rejection of their daughter is sadly still relevant. Though issues with marrying outside the faith is less common, it is still present, along with a host of other reasons; being gay or transgender, not agreeing with something about abortion, even ''political'' beliefs associated with a faith.

** Margaret's mother Barbara, who gets added emphasis in the film. She is still clearly carrying quite a lot of pain from being [[IHaveNoSon disowned by her parents]], and is civil but not close with her mother-in-law. She hopes her parents have changed and reaches out to them after Margaret asks about her grandparents. Despite this, she's a very kind woman doing her best in challenging circumstances. Perhaps too kind -- volunteering for the PTO saddles her with the mind-bogglingly tedious task of cutting out thousands of fabric stars, calling for school financial donations, and to cover another volunteer's stars and [[ExtremeDoormat agrees]] despite clearly longing to put that time and effort into more creative outlets.

* {{Anvilicious}}: Margaret's maternal grandparents (especially her maternal grandmother) are [[TheFundamentalist fanatical Christians]] who became estranged with their daughter because she married a Jewish man. It's implied that they are visiting Margaret's family more to convert Margaret and reconvert her mother rather than reconciling with them, and they barely acknowledge Herb. The movie [[AdaptationalNiceGuy makes them more sympathetic]]--they're still obviously Christian and discomforted by Sylvia's Jewish display at dinner (and fight with her over Margaret's faith), but seem honestly upset and ashamed by how they've acted and say they'll contact Barbara later before leaving, implying they want to stay in touch (and that their visit wasn't just a stop over to go to New York).

* HilariousInHindsight: Elle Graham, known for playing Sara Hopper in ''Series/StrangerThings'', plays a character named Nancy Wheeler. These characters are ''so'' different that it's probably not a deliberate reference.

* HilariousInHindsight: There's a character named [[Series/StrangerThings Nancy Wheeler]]. Who is so different from the later character that it's probably not a deliberate reference.

* {{Anvilicious}}: Margaret's maternal grandparents (especially her maternal grandmother) are [[TheFundamentalist fanatical Christians]] who became estranged with their daughter because she married a Jewish man. It's implied that they are visiting Margaret's family more to convert Margaret and reconvert her mother rather than reconciling with them, and they barely acknowledge Herb.

** Mr. Benedict gawking over an elementary schooler was weird in the 1960s (and the 1970s when the book was released), but the characters never think to tell anyone about this. There's no way a teacher who's obviously attracted to 11-year-olds, no matter how [[YoungerThanTheyLook much older they appear to look]], would be allowed to teach anymore, especially when doing so their ''first year'' as a teacher. However, Margaret admits that she's never seen him gawking -- it's just another story that Nancy gossips about with her posse, and Nancy isn't exactly a [[KnowNothingKnowItAll reliable source of information]]. This element is removed from the film adaptation, most likely to avoid arguments over whether Nancy's claims are true and thus whether Mr. Benedict is trustworthy.

** The characters views on religion, while not that rare in America, come off as dated. In the 1960s, more Americans were devout and there wasn't much knowledge about religions other than Christianity and Judaism. In her letter to Mr. Benedict, Margaret writes than she hasn't tried to be a Buddhist or a "Moslim"(sic) because she didn't know anyone of those faiths. These days, Margaret's parents choosing to raise her in a secular environment and being in a mixed marriage wouldn't be seen as surprising -- it's steadily becoming the norm in a lot of areas.

** Laura Danker, who deals with boys harassing her over her breast size and the other girls envying and shaming her, which leads to nasty gossip about her being a slut. She is just an average 11-12 year old who attends mass and confession regularly.
** Margaret's mother Barbara, who gets added emphasis in the film. She is still clearly carrying quite a lot of pain from being [[IHaveNoSon disowned by her parents]], and is civil but not close with her mother-in-law. Of course she hopes her parents have changed and unfortunately that hope for reconciliation backfires. Despite this, she's a very kind woman doing her best in challenging circumstances. Perhaps too kind -- volunteering for the PTO saddles her with the mind-bogglingly tedious task of cutting out hundreds, maybe thousands of fabric stars, and then she's asked to double her output and [[ExtremeDoormat agrees]] despite clearly longing to put that time and effort into more creative outlets.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Margaret to many modern readers, mostly due to ValuesDissonance.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: It is somewhat as a very tame ComingOfAge book by today's standards, but the frank and open depictions of puberty (although common for Creator/JudyBlume books) and questioning of religion were seen as controversial and perhaps even obscene in the [[TheSeventies 1970s]] when the book was published.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Margaret was intended to be an awkward but relatable girl caught up in wanting to be grown up, but it's also easy to view Margaret as a mild VillainProtagonist and the book as a (sympathetic) portrayal of an AlphaBitch and her GirlPosse due to ValuesDissonance. The movie on the other hand has Margaret follow her HeelRealization with becoming less close to Nancy and eventually making an overture of friendship towards Laura.