Kathy Bates playing someone other than God, somehow, in Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret

In the novel, Margaret’s time with the accepting Sylvia are painted as some of the few highpoints of the tumultuous times in which the book takes place, as social pressures, religious arguments, and more send the young girl constantly spiraling in search of divine advice. Blume’s 1970 novel has long been praised for its quiet and thoughtful look at the ways these crises, big and small, can shape a young person trying to figure out the world, and Sylvia is one of the few people in Margaret’s life not trying to impose some kind of shape or path for her to adhere to or follow.

Bates, for her part, has been relatively quiet in recent years; she previously starred in Franka Potente’s Home, and before that had a starring role in Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell, for which she received her fourth Academy Award nomination. Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret, directed by Kelly Fremon Craig, is set to begin production in April.