<P> Margaret's exploration of religion leads to conflict with both sides of her family . She enjoys spending time with her Jewish paternal grandmother, who loves her as she is . However, when Margaret joins her at a synagogue on Rosh Hashanah in order to see what the Jewish faith entails, her grandmother begins to push Margaret to embrace Judaism, which frustrates Margaret as she feels that religion should not matter if she and her grandmother love each other . Margaret's fundamentalist Christian maternal grandparents, who have been estranged from her mother for 14 years due to their disapproval of interfaith marriage, suddenly decide to visit, but a family argument erupts over religion . In frustration, Margaret declares that she doesn't believe in God and rejects both parents' religions . She gives up on God and stops talking to him . At the end of her study project, she has not been able to resolve her religious situation as she had hoped, but has learned about herself and become more comfortable with her lack of affiliation . She then gets her first period and, relieved and happy, resumes her previous relationship with God, saying, "I know you're there God . I know you wouldn't have missed this for anything! Thank you God . Thanks an awful lot ..." </P> <Ul> <Li> Margaret Simon: The protagonist of the book . She is an only child going through puberty and beginning to notice boys, and she is uncertain of which religion she prefers to follow . The book ends with Margaret getting her period, as she is the third of her friends to get it . </Li> <Li> Barbara Simon (née Hutchins): Margaret's Christian mother, who is a housewife and likes to paint . </Li> <Li> Herbert Simon: Margaret's Jewish father, who is an insurance salesman . </Li> <Li> Sylvia Simon: Herbert's mother and Margaret's grandmother . She refers to Margaret as "my Margaret ." She wants Margaret to embrace Judaism . </Li> <Li> Nancy Wheeler: Margaret's neighbor and her first new friend in Farbrook, New Jersey . She is the second of the four to get her period . </Li> <Li> Gretchen Potter: A friend of Nancy's whose father is a doctor, and who is a member of the Four PTS's . She is the first of the four to get her period . </Li> <Li> Janie Loomis: Another girl in the Four PTS's with Nancy, Gretchen, and Margaret . She is the last of the four to get her period . </Li> <Li> Evan Wheeler: Nancy's older brother . </Li> <Li> Moose Freed: Evan's friend, in whom Margaret takes a great interest . </Li> <Li> Miles J. Benedict Jr.: Margaret's sixth - grade teacher, who is in his first teaching job . </Li> <Li> Laura Danker: A classmate of Margaret's who is tall and very developed for her age . </Li> <Li> Phillip Leroy: A classmate of Margaret's whom she initially likes . </Li> <Li> Mary and Paul Hutchins: Barbara's fundamentalist Christian parents, who disown her for her interfaith marriage . They want Margaret to embrace Christianity . </Li> </Ul> <Li> Margaret Simon: The protagonist of the book . She is an only child going through puberty and beginning to notice boys, and she is uncertain of which religion she prefers to follow . The book ends with Margaret getting her period, as she is the third of her friends to get it . </Li> <Li> Barbara Simon (née Hutchins): Margaret's Christian mother, who is a housewife and likes to paint . </Li>

Do you hear me god it's me margaret