THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF JUDY BLUME
With a new documentary and book-to-movie adaptation, Blume is as relevant as ever.
“We must, we must, we must increase our bust.” Recite that line, and millions of women—young and old—will get the reference. It’s from Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, a 1970 book by Judy Blume that clearly captured an 11-year-old’s coming-of-age angst and confusion about religion and puberty (the movie based on the book hits theaters April 28). Blume and her young adult and adult books (29 in all! More than 90 million sold!) have made a huge difference in the lives of so many (boys and men too) that it’s no surprise that her fans are eagerly awaiting the release of Judy Blume Forever, which premieres on Prime Video on April 21st. The documentary about her life and influence explores how a New Jersey housewife became an author who dared to delve into taboo topics around growing bodies, teenage sexuality, relationships and religion.
“I grew up as a good girl with a bad girl lurking inside,” Blume, who is 85, says in the
“I don’t think Judy Blume wrote her books to be timeless. I think she wrote them to be timely, and they were so timely that they became timeless.”
—author Jason Reynolds
documentary. “So by the time I started to write, I really had a lot to get out. I could be fearless in my writing in a way that maybe I wasn’t always in my life.”
And fearless she was, writing about menstruation (Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret), bullying and self-esteem (Blubber), Asperger’s (the Fudge books), depression and grief (Tiger Eyes) and so much more. When Blume’s daughter asked her to write a book about teenagers who fall in love and “do it” but don’t come to some tragic ending, she wrote Forever, a book that actress Kathryn Hahn told Parade was much-beloved contraband when she was growing up.
“I remember a very dog-eared and highlighted copy of Forever we had to hide from the nuns. All the girls in my catholic high school would pass it around,” Hahn said.” It was very informative and formative, because we