Forever… by Judy Blume

1975 is the next step on our journey through the history of YA romance.  Kath and Michael meet at a New Year’s party during their senior year.  Their romance develops quickly over the next semester, but this is not the 1940′s and they go far beyond brief kisses.  Don’t worry they don’t hop right in and Kath is careful to play it safe.  Kath is a heady young woman who thinks about things.  Just recently I was discussing with my boyfriend that almost everyone has tear your heart out first love.  Kath and Michael are of the crowd, they think it will last forever but when you are 18 is there a forever?

Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume

Davey’s father is shot and killed in his store in Atlantic City.  The family struggle to returns to life and so her aunt Bitsy and her uncle Walter sweep them off to Los Alamos.  Davey meets a young man who calls himself Wolf and he talks about her sad tiger eyes.  Not only does Davey struggle with grief but she also deals with making new friends, finding herself and even dealing with a friend who is verging on being an alcoholic.  Copyright 1981 and I’ll admit that cover makes me want to run and fear but the copy I hold got a shiny new cover in 2009 and I think even with a bit of cassette tape and 80′s pop culture it can still be  a relevant read.