Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Chapter 7 Summary

  • Back at school on Monday, Margaret gets busy researching boys so she'll know who to put in her Boy Book.
  • Mr. Benedict tells the class that they're gonna have a yearlong project—he seems to think they'll be excited by this, but they're not. Duh.
  • It's time for the first meeting of the Four PTS's. Important business takes place: they all feel each other's backs to make sure they're actually wearing bras, and Nancy enjoys some special status as the only one to get an actual 32AA, not a Gro-bra. She convinces the rest of the girls to do special exercises every day that involve moving their arms and chanting, "'We must—we must—we must increase our bust!'" (7.29). (Pro tip: this doesn't actually work. Sorry.)
  • The girls move on to seeing who all made it in to the Boy Books; Philip Leroy is number one in everybody's.
  • Back at school, there's an explosion of "peeps" during a math review. The sixth graders think they have gotten away with something, but when they come into school the next day they find a completely new seating chart. Mr. Benedict: 1, Class: 0.
  • Gym starts, and the boys and girls are separated—then the gym teacher, Miss Abbott, promises that they are going to cover "'certain very private subjects just for girls'" (7.41).
  • Later that week it's time for the social studies test. Margaret gives in to peer pressure (just say no, Margaret) and goes along with the rest of the class in not putting her name on her test paper, even though she studied hard for it.