Love her! Read all her books when I was a preteen. I even hid Forever in my room so my mom couldn't find it.

Aww! I've been waiting for you guys to cover Judy Blume for Forever (ha). Thanks for making my morning.

I love all her books. Tiger Eyes was a rough read...when you finally find out whats in the paper bag? UGH.

Agreed! Judy Blume can make any girl's morning.

-webelowwear.com

*dusts extensive Blume shrine that is right below the Agatha Christie's*

No doubt, Blume is the shit.

@chocolatecoffeebeans: same - that was the one Judy Blume book I wasn't allowed to have...I checked it out of the library and kept renewing it until the library wouldn't let me have it any longer.

one of the most banned writers in America

Sigh. I hope I write a banned book one day.

My Forever story sucks. I read it long after I'd read things that were far more pornographic, so I barely remember it.

I'm either really ahead or way behind.

I love Judy! I think she's the one who taught me how to put on a bra - that was not something I wanted to discuss with my mother.

This makes me so nostalgic for the good ol' days, before Generation Skankbotbratz.

Oh my god I'm the crotchety-ist 26 year old everrrr.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who spent long nights huddled under blankets with a copy of Tiger Eyes or Then Again Maybe I Won't, then paying the harsh price the next day for spending sleepless nights reading about horny teens.

Amen. I read Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing when I was 7, Forever when I was 12 and Summer Sisters when I was 14 (with random books like Deenie mixed in). Judy Blume books taught me soooo much, and I will be forever thankful.

@janna: Ok, forget I said that last part. Summer Sisters is not for kids. Stay in school and don't do drugs.

I loved her books! I used to read them under the covers with a flashlight until wayyy past my bedtime because I couldn't put them down!

love. her.

met her in college. she comes off as VERY flaky (but still lovable) in person. which was surprising, because i found her writing growing up (and now, too, for that matter) to be decidedly un-flaky.

judy blume 4FR!

To this day "Summer Sisters" is my all time favorite book. So much so that I took a trip to the Vineyard this past August to relive it.

Forever stories - Discuss!

C'mon gang, it'll be fun. Its this, or actually working.

Oh "Tiger Eyes"... how you impacted my young life. Thank you Judy Bloom.

Oh My GOD! "Are you there, God? It's me, Margaret" was basically the moment I realized that I was a girl, which meant I was going to turn into a Woman. I could NOT figure out why the book was all about punctuation- why was this girl so worried about a period? So my little 8-year old self went running to my dad to ask him about it, and he just said, "Go ask your mother." Which was the first time he had ever refused to answer me about something in my life.

@JessicaLovejoy: My story sucks, too. I read basically everything by Judy Blume except Forever as a kid, but somehow didn't read Forever until long after my mind had been irretrievably warped by other stuff.

I love Judy Blume. Her daughter sounds pretty cool too.

I guess I was lucky to grow up before all the PC bullshit came to be (and, as a matter of fact, before all the "abstinance" bullshit...we had sex ed, and it was good. Thanks, Hilary.) I don't remember anything about books being banned. My mom started taking me to the library as a toddler, we went every Saturday morning after I was in school, and I always went home with a stack of books.

I still have my whole Judy Blume collection from the '70's. She is a national treasure.

Yay, for Judy Blume and so many summers spent rereading her books. I want a hardback collection right now.

i just remember that deenie made me cry something awful, so i hardly read any of her other books. and i could never, ever understand why you would WANT your period... ever.

I read Judy Blume books when I was really young (pre-puberty) and had pretty much forgotten them all by the time I was a teen. I prolly could've used some of those books.
I still can remember the exact moment my adolescent angst waned. I got into some trouble in HS one time (don't remember, prolly falling grades or absences) and the guidance couselor sat me down and said, "I wouldn't trade places with you in a million years. Being young sucks. They say these are the best years of your life, but that's horse shit. Your best years don't come till way later, so know that it gets better." and *poof* I'm over it. I'd never had an adult level with me like that before. The term "best years of you life" needs to be banned from parent/teacher vocab.

::guiltily puts hands up::

i was one of the kids that learnt about periods from judy blume before learning about them from their mothers. judy blume is kind of my hero.

Love her forever. She writes back lovely notes, you know, if you write to her. Somewhere, I still have the letter she wrote me when I was twelve, and I was lucky enough to hear her speak at my sister's graduation from Mount Holyoke in 2003. Afterwards, I was too freaked out to approach her for an autograph, so I wrote her a card telling her how much I enjoyed her speech, and she sent me a postcard back. Handwritten! I know I sound like a doofus, and I don't care. There's something about her.

@Lkkelly11: I loved Summer Sisters, and went to MV on my honeymoon at least partly because of it. It was one of the few books I've read where I felt it changed me, especially of the ones I've read as an adult. She knows how to say all the things you think about but can't name.

I love her. She started me on Jewish female writers...I went on to Norma Klein and eventually Erica Jong...I was the only kid in my youth group who knew Yiddish.

@katastic: Hahaha!!

I read "Are You There God" when I was 7, and my parents were bracing themselves for the questions...and the only one I had was, "if the dad is Jewish and the mom is Catholic, do they get to have Christmas or Hanukkah?" They were so relieved!!

@leMaldeTete: Then I am oldest 25 year old. Get off my lawn is something I actually say.

@AlisonAshleigh: Missed this Blume book. What was in the bag? A dead cat?

Every time Judy comes up here, I realize I should re-read these books. Especially Margaret and Forever. I could never understand why on earth Margaret wanted her period so badly though - I was dreading the arrival of mine.

By the time I read Are You There God, belts were long gone from pads and I was SO CONFUSED about how periods worked. I thought the egg coming down those tubes just squeezed your body so much, you bled from your hips. Oy. Still, fantastic book.

@TheFormerJuneBronson: I went to the Flying Horses, hoping to catch a glimpse of Bru. Unfortunatly he wasn't there. :)

I did however rent a moped and drive the 18 miles to the other side of the island to lay on Gayhead Beach. I'm pretty sure this book made me who I am today. Completely changed my life. Everytime I read it I fall in love again.

Haha that sounds pathetic...but yet so true.

lOVE HER!

@leMaldeTete: I hear 12 is the new 26. This might explain why the pics on my 13 year old sisters myspace look like they're submissions for Hustler Letters.

Judy Blume book banning is proof (to me) that we are regressing. I grew up in a small Southern town. I am 33 years old. I and every single one of my friends read all of these books. Where did we get them? Our public school library. It just wasn't a big deal.

Oh, I love Judy Blume. I don't have a Forever story as my library didn't have it growing up as a kid (maybe it was banned?), but Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret and Blubber got me through some tough times growing up.

I never would have made it through puberty without Judy Blume. She rules.

Spoiler Alert!
@HeatherNumber1: noooo, it was the blood-stained clothes from the night her father was killed.

I think one of my favorite moments in high school was when I made some off handed reference to uh, Ralph from Forever in my english class, and every single girl in the class caught it, the teacher caught it, and none of the guys got it and we were just sitting there cracking up.

@HeatherNumber1: Her dad owned a 7-11 or something, and was shot during a robbery, and she heard it and went to him and held him while he died. She ends up moving and bringing this paper bag with her, and towards the end of the book you find out it has the blood stained clothes she wore that night inside it.

@TinyK: Haha, same! I had no idea why a belt would be necessary. Especially confusing since I was a competitive swimmer and had been hearing the older girls talk about tampons since the age of 8. I couldn't figure out why you'd need a belt and wondered how the older girls hid it under their swimsuits and why they never talked about it.

Judy Blume was one of the reasons I loved reading. She has nothing new to say about teenagers? Ok, that may be true but as the mother of a teenager myself I wouldn't mind if she would say it all again.

@BiscuitDoughJones: Yes, yes, YES!! You are so lucky to have someone actually *say* that to you, instead of keeping up that ridiculous facade, or just dismissing you as a hopeless miscreant as many adults are wont to do with teens.

If I have children I will never ever ever ever tell them they should be "thrilled" to be in high school, nor mislead them with the idea that these times are the best they will ever experience.

what about all her 'grown up' books from the 70s? They're outdated, but when I need a big push of why-womens-lib-is-necessary i go reread Wifey. Augh the things these women believed about themselves and their uselessness!

@Lkkelly11: We ate at the Homeport and watched the sunset at Gay Head! Vix was right...the food was mediocre. But the view was definitely nice.

"Wifey" was the first book with explicit sex I ever read. I snuck it off my mother's bookshelf and one day when my parents were out and we had a babysitter I spent all day in my room, in bed, reading that book. I think I was in fifth grade. Whoah. By that time I'd already pretty much destroyed my copy of AYTGIMM from reading it so much. It would be kind of cool if Judy could write an updated version of Margaret....one that doesn't deal with belted pads and such....

There IS an adult Blume read to bridge the gap between Forever and now--and it's a delicious read--Wifey, anyone?
[www.amazon.com]

Would make an excellent discussion piece for the Jezebel set!

I also forgot to mention that my mom was a middle school teacher and confiscated about twenty copies of Forever from her classes....some of them were HIGHLIGHTED. HAHAHAH!

I remember when I first read Are You There God.. and I was totally confused by the needing a belt for the maxi pad. I always assumed they were adhesive.

I loved Tiger Eyes.

@tissa: @thatgirlinnewyork: I saw that book yesterday at the flea market for 25 cents. I had never heard of it but now I am certainly going back to get it next Sunday!

Judy Blume was my precursor to Erica Jong and Judith Krantz.