- Anna Maria Junus
Women's Wednesday: Judy Blume
The day of celebrating women writers and women in literature.
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Deenie was the first Judy Blume book that I had ever read. Deenie has scoliosis, severe enough that she needs to wear a brace, which isn't an easy thing to do.
I had never read a book like this before. Previously the books I had read were girls on adventures, or solving mysteries, or dealing with just being a regular kid, or girls from the 1800's. Except for the orphans who were badly treated, the girls I read about didn't have real problems. They got in trouble doing the right things, and they had adventures, and they had fun times.
But Deenie was about an ordinary girl, in my time, with a problem. She had scoliosis, a health condition I had never heard of. Blume didn't pull any punches on this and even described an embarrassing procedure for Deenie when she was measured for her brace.
I was part of Judy Blume's first generation of readers.
While Beverly Cleary (who Judy Blume admired) wrote about real kids, she wrote about kids and dogs and kids getting into mischief, and just kids playing. Nothing very serious. Even her teen romances were light hearted. And to this day I love them.
Judy Blume however, wrote about kids with real problems, things Beverly didn't touch. Puberty, racism, health issues, bullying, and divorce. Born into a Jewish family in 1938 in New Jersey, Judy got a degree in education, married three times, had two children, beat cancer twice, and published her first book The One in the Middle is the Green Kangeroo in 1969.
It was "Are You There God, It's Me Margaret" published the following year that made her famous. The most celebrated, and the most banned of all her books, because for the first time, it dealt with a young girls puberty in a very honest way. And it was about a girl questioning God. I guess those two things drove parents crazy. Which is bizarre. The book is written for girls the same age as the character. You would think parents wouldn't have a problem with the subject matter, since this is what girls are going through. Now this book is always on a children's classics list. It's one of those books you have to read if you're a girl in the 9-14 age group.
Her children's and young adult books always made the best sellers list, and girls like me devoured them.
Judy Blume did not limit herself to writing for children and teens. She wrote for adults as well. Wifey, Smart Women, Summer Sisters, and In the Unlikely Event were also published.
I've read Summer Sisters and donated it. I prefer her children's books. Her adult books are more - adult. And her kids are more likeable and relatable. Wifey, her first book for adults was published in 1977. The story of extramarital affairs made the best seller list. I had planned to do a podcast with a friend about women writers, that didn't work out, but in preparation I was looking for a biography of Judy. She never wrote one. However, she did gather up letters from kids and published them along with some of her autobiography in Letters to Judy.
And she wrote a novel based on herself when she was a kid. Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself is the story of a ten year old Jewish girl in 1947 who moves to Miami with her mother and brother for the winter. Although almost all of her books are contemporary this one takes a step
back in time to immediately after WWII. Sally is concerned with fitting in, and about the man she thinks looks just like HItler. It might be Hitler in disguise! Judy has this this to say about the book.
Her book, In the Unlikely Event also steps back in time to an actual event in Judy's world. Three planes crashed in her home town in the same year at different times, and her father, a dentist, was involved with identifying the bodies. She turned that into an adult novel. Currently it's her last published book.
Now, although I didn't find an autobiography of her, there is a biography for children written about her and it's part of the Who Is? series. Interesting tidbit. The American Library Association named her the one of the most frequently challenged authors of the 21st century. Which didn't prevent her from winning some prestigious awards like The Library of Congress Living Legend.
Because her books have caused so much controversy and she's been on banned lists, she reached out to other banned authors and served on the board of The National Coalition Against Censorship. She also got together with other writers and created a book of short stories which she edited called Places I Never Meant to Be.
Her 1981 novel Tiger Eyes was made into a movie.
Also I found a music video by Amanda Palmer that's a tribute to Judy Blume. Judy spoke to young girls and women for decades about things they couldn't talk about to anyone.
She guested on Seth Meyers.
Want to take a class with Judy? She did a Masterclass.
Not many people can say they are a living legend.
