Judy Blume Books

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Judy Blume is an American author who writes young adult novels. Born in 1938 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to a homemaker (Esther Sussman) and a dentist (Rudolph Sussman), the author comes from a Jewish family.

Blume experienced many hardships during her childhood. That includes moving to Miami Beach with her brother and mother to care for an older brother with a kidney infection. Her hometown recorded multiple tragedies in the early 50s when three airplanes crashed.

Over a hundred people died. Blume’s father was among the team that worked to identify the remains because of his expertise as a dentist. Blume buried these memories until 2015 when she wrote ‘In The Unlikely Event,’ a novel in which plane crashes play a pivotal role.

On the publishing front, the author had no interest in becoming a homemaker or a dentist when she was young. Although she was doubtful her dreams (cowgirl, spying, ballerina) would ever come to pass. Writing wasn’t a consideration at the time. Even though she read a lot, Blume knew next to nothing about professional writers.

She couldn’t imagine growing up and penning stories for a living. The notion seemed absurd. That said, the girl was always making up stories, particularly when she played with paper dolls. She would also put her mind to work while practicing the piano.

Blume created imaginary students and pretended to teach them. But even though she kept a list of these fictional students in a notebook, she never wrote her stories down. Additionally, she kept them to herself.

As the author matured, her desire to tell stories grew. After giving birth to two children and sending them off to preschool, Blume decided to set the characters in her imagination free by putting their stories on paper.

These characters felt so real that Blume would talk about them to other people. Fortunately, she had an understanding family that appreciated her personality and sense of humor. Her first book was titled ‘The One In The Middle Is The Green Kangaroo.’

The second was ‘Iggie’s House.’ But it is for her third novel, ‘Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret’ that Blume is best known. The book turned the author into an international bestseller, cementing her place in the YA literature genre.

Critics will also mention ‘Forever’ as another notable Judy Blume novel because it broke new ground by tackling controversial subjects such as sexuality and body image at a time when YA authors preferred to take a more sanitized approach to teenage stories.

Blume wrote the novel because her 13-year-old daughter wanted to read a book where characters had sex without dying soon after.

Judy Blume Awards

Blume has won Great Stone Face, Nene, Young Housier, North Dakota Children’s Choice, Michigan Young Reader’s, Parents’ Choice, and Iowa Choice Awards, to mention but a few.

Judy Blume Books Into Movies

‘Forever’ became a TV film. ‘Otherwise Known As Sheila The Great’ became a movie. ‘Fudge-a-Mania’ became a TV series. ‘Tiger Eyes’ received a film adaptation. ‘Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret’ became a feature film.

Best Judy Blume Books

The author continues to fight against book banning and censorship in various American states, primarily because her books have been censored on multiple occasions. Blume’s best books include:

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret: At 12, Margaret Simon is a precocious girl with long hair and a strong desire to fit in after leaving New York City for Farbook in New Jersey. Fortunately, she has great friends in Janie, Nancy, and Gretchen.

The girls are initially confused to learn that Margaret doesn’t have a religion. They don’t realize that Margaret has a special relationship with God.

Tales Of A Fourth-Grade Nothing: Peter Hatcher cannot stand his brother Fudge. The boy is nearly three years old, yet he is already a terror. Fudge doesn’t know when to stop. When he isn’t throwing temper tantrums in shoe stores, you will find him smearing the walls with mashed potatoes or trying to fly.

Even more infuriating is the fact that Fudge gets away with everything. When Fudge takes Peter’s pet turtle, the older sibling finally decides to act. He has tolerated Fudge’s foolishness for too long. Peter is determined to take his parent’s love and attention back, even if it means breaking a few rules.

When Does The Next Judy Blume book come out?

Judy Blume doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is In the Unlikely Event and was released on June, 3rd 2015.

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