Judy Blume's middle grade and young adult novels have helped raise generations of kids, reshaping the literary landscape for young listeners. Since the 1970s, Blume's writing has contributed to destigmatizing taboo topics like puberty, teen sexuality, masturbation, menstruation, bullying, disability, and more. And now, rather than her books being deemed outdated or no longer relevant to today's kids, we're experiencing what has dubbed the "Blume-aissance." In addition to an upcoming documentary about Blume, more of her books are being adapted for television and film than ever before.
At 85 years old, Blume stars in the new Amazon Prime Video documentary Judy Blume Forever and discusses her path to writing and her lasting legacy. In the documentary's official trailer, the author is shown discussing the inspirations for her most popular titles and looking through fan letters.
"I grew up as a good girl with a bad girl lurking inside, so by the time I started to write, I really had a lot to get out," says Blume in the documentary. "I could be fearless in my writing in a way that maybe I wasn’t always in my life." And she's not the only one celebrating—other writers and celebrities including Molly Ringwald, Lena Dunham, Samantha Bee, Tayari Jones, and Mary H.K. Choi joined the documentary to share their experiences with Blume’s work and its lasting impact.
It seems some other powerful folks in Hollywood agree with the timeless quality of Blume's work too. After all these years, several of Blume's books are finally in production for big and small screen adaptations. Perhaps most notably, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, arguably Blume's most iconic work, will arrive in theaters on April 28, 2023, with stars Rachel McAdams and Kathy Bates playing Margaret's mother and grandmother, respectively.
And several other platforms have big Judy Blume projects in the works. Disney+ is developing an animated film based on the book ; Netflix has announced the production of a new show inspired by in production; and according to the New York Times, a series based on Summer Sisters has moved from Hulu to Peacock and is now being produced by book lover Jenna Bush Hager.
Nostalgia is certainly a driver for some of these projects. The Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret film leans into a 1970s aesthetic and plays with some of the more antiquated components of 1970s girlhood. Not all of the adaptations are sticking to the original eras in which Blume's books are set, however; some are taking a more 21st-century approach.
There’s something else that just may be drawing listeners to Blume’s work anew—censorship, a far more troubling trend in the world of kids' book. According to PEN America, 2022 saw more books banned in US schools and public libraries than in any year since they started tracking the issue. There's an organized movement across the country to limit youngsters’ access to stories some deem "inappropriate." Censorship is an issue Judy Blume has faced and fought against since she first started writing. Throughout decades of relentless efforts to ban her books for their honest depictions of menstruation, masturbation, birth control, and bras, Blume has been a trailblazer for free speech. In fact, she’s organized other authors and has served as a longtime board member for the National Coalition Against Censorship.
While the landscape for book banning has stayed the same in some ways, Blume is also aware of what's changed. "It’s better because we’re talking about it," she said in a New York Times interview. "It’s worse because it’s so politicized. It was awful in the ’80s. This is even bigger. And scarier. And more polarizing."
But the issues that have made Judy Blume's books regulars on banned book lists for decades are also what makes them so memorable and impactful for those who came across them. In her books, she created realistic young characters with real concerns about their bodies and futures. Blume's characters made—and continue to make—young people feel seen and understood. She's paved the way for other authors to write honestly and openly about tough topics, and she's opened doors for kids to talk about those topics in a meaningful way with their parents, trusted adults, and friends.
"I believe that censorship grows out of fear, and because fear is contagious, some parents are easily swayed," says Blume on her website. "Book banning satisfies their need to feel in control of their children’s lives. This fear is often disguised as moral outrage. They want to believe that if their children don’t read about it, their children won’t know about it. And if they don’t know about it, it won’t happen."
Certainly, avoiding difficult topics won’t make them go away. Instead, giving kids knowledge about their changing bodies and emotions empowers them to make better decisions and feel some sense of control over their own lives. That's why Blume has spent decades fighting for the right to portray real kids facing real problems, no matter how loudly book banners have tried to stop her.
To celebrate Judy Blume’s much-deserved renaissance, we’re revisiting some of her most beloved works. Here are eight stories from the Judy-verse well worth another listen, from middle grade books like Freckle Juice to adult fiction like In the Unlikely Event.
It's hard to imagine a more influential young adult novel than Judy Blume's most well-known work, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Originally published in 1970, this listen has helped generations of girls understand and discuss puberty. The story has even grown up alongside us, with original discussions of belted sanitary napkins being updated to adhesive pads in later editions. It tells the story of 11-year-old Margaret Simon, whose family moves from New York City to a New Jersey suburb where she joins a group of friends who talk openly with each other about religion, menstruation, bras, and crushes. It's a perfect example of Blume's ability to directly address taboo issues without judgment or moralizing, something all too rare in kidlit throughout the 1970s and still today. Blume saw herself in Margaret Simon, and hundreds of thousands of fans saw themselves in Margaret too. The audiobook is a funny, heartfelt, enjoyable story for kids and adults, mixing the warmth of nostalgia with those timeless themes about growing up.
Any older sibling can recognize the growing pains associated with that role in the family. In the case of Peter Hatcher, his little brother Farley Drexel, better known as Fudge, is such a terrible toddler that his antics make his older brother feel like a fourth grade nothing. This is the first of five books in Blume's Fudge series, which follow a boy learning to love his little brother even when he's exasperated by him. The audiobook, narrated by Judy Blume herself, is an absolute joy. The author perfectly voices the different characters, especially two-year-old Fudge. Give it a listen, and follow it up with Superfudge or the story of one of Peter's classmates, Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great.
If you want a short and sweet Judy Blume classic, it's definitely time to revisit the 1978 favorite, Freckle Juice. Andrew is jealous of his classmate Nicky's freckles, of which he counts 86. A clever classmate catches on to Andrew's wish for freckles and sells him the recipe for freckle juice, a concoction of grape juice and condiments she promises will help him grow his own freckles. It's a laugh-out-loud listen you can enjoy in just 24 minutes.
Blubber, originally published in 1974, is a striking example of how far we've come in public conversations about bullying—and how far we still have to go. Jill, the book's narrator, joins her best friend, Wanda, in bullying a girl in their fifth grade class. As Wanda's bullying escalates, Jill realizes what they're doing is cruel, but she doesn't know how to stop it. In interviews, Judy Blume has shared that Blubber is based on a real situation in her daughter's class, and she wrote the book to break the stigma for kids being bullied and to help bystanders learn how to intervene.
It's truly stunning how many aspects of growing up Judy Blume captures in her stories. In Deenie, she focuses on disability, parental expectations, teen crushes, and masturbation—the last of which made this one of Blume's most contested books. At 13, Deenie is already a local beauty, and her mother is pushing her towards a future of modeling. But when Deenie is diagnosed with scoliosis, she learns she'll be in a back brace for at least four years, and fashion may not be in her future anymore. As Deenie works toward finding confidence, she forges a new dream life for herself.
As a teen herself in the 1970s, Judy Blume's daughter asked her mom to write a book where teens have sex and don't die. It was unheard of at the time. Blume took on the challenge and wrote Forever... about Katherine, a senior in high school who has sex for the first time with her boyfriend, Michael. They promise they'll be together forever, but when they're separated by their families for the summer, their relationship is tested. Since the American Library Association started tracking frequently banned books in the 1990s, Forever... has consistently been on the list for its detailed depictions of sex and birth control. Nonetheless, this book has given countless teens the tools to discuss sex and shaped the young adult literary field forever.
As Judy Blume's fans grew up, some of her novels grew up with them. Summer Sisters, first published in 1998, starts with an unexpected phone call between two estranged old friends. Caitlin asks Vix to be her maid of honor in her upcoming wedding—to Vix's first love. The novel goes back in time to tell the coming-of-age story of two best friends across their summers together on Martha's Vineyard. It's a poignant tale of how friendships change over time, and it's brought to life beautifully by a full cast in audio.
In 2015, Judy Blume published the book she has said will be her last. A work of historical fiction written for adults, In the Unlikely Event is based on real events Blume witnessed during her childhood. Over the course of a few weeks in the early 1950s, three airplanes fell from the sky in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The novel follows three generations of families, friends, and strangers who live with the impacts of these disasters. Queue up this listen while crossing your fingers that Blume has another book or two up her sleeve, after all.
Susie Dumond is a senior contributor at Book Riot and the author of Queerly Beloved and the forthcoming Looking for a Sign (2024) from The Dial Press.
