Judy Blume
Judy Blume at a book signing (2009)
Born	Judith Sussman (1938-02-12) February 12, 1938 (age 74) Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States
Occupation	Author
Genres	Children's books, Young adult, novels
Notable work(s)	Tiger Eyes Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.Fudge series
Spouse(s)	John Blume (1961–1976) Thomas A. Kitchens (1976–1978) George Cooper (1987–present)
[judyblume.com judyblume.com]

Judy Blume (née Sussman; born February 12, 1938) is an American author.^[1] She has written many novels for children and young adults which have exceeded sales of 80 million and been translated into 31 languages.^[2] Blume's novels for teenagers were among the first to tackle racism (Iggie's House), menstruation (Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.), divorce (It's Not the End of the World, Just As Long As We're Together), bullying (Blubber), masturbation (Deenie; Then Again, Maybe I Won't) and teen sex (Forever). Blume has used these subjects to generate discussion, but they have also been the source of controversy regarding age-appropriate reading.^[3]

Judy Blume’s classic 1981 novel Tiger Eyes will be on the big screen. The film version of the novel, directed by the author's son Lawrence Blume, is starring Willa Holland as Davey and Amy Jo Johnson as Gwen Wexler. The Tiger Eyes movie is currently in production with a projected release date sometime in 2012.^[4]

  Early life

Blume was born and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey to Esther (née Rosenfeld), a homemaker, and Ralph Sussman, a dentist.^[5] She has a brother, David, who is five years older.^[6] Blume later recalled, "I spent most of my childhood making up stories inside of my head." She graduated from Battin High School in 1956, then enrolled in Boston University. In the first semester, she was diagnosed with mononucleosis and took a brief leave from school^[7] before graduating from New York University in 1961 with a bachelor's degree in teaching.^[8][9]

  Career

A lifelong avid reader, Blume first began writing when her children were attending preschool,^[10] and published her first book, The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo, in 1969. The decade that followed proved to be her most prolific, with 13 more books being published, including many of her most well-known titles, such as Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (1970), Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (1972), Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great (1972), and Blubber (1974).^[11]

After publishing novels for young children and teens, Blume tackled another genre—adult reality and death. Her novels Wifey (1978) and Smart Women (1983) shot to the top of The New York Times best-seller list. Wifey has become a bestseller, with over 4 million copies sold to date. Her latest and third adult novel Summer Sisters (1998) was widely praised and has sold more than 3 million copies.^[12] It spent 5 months on The New York Times Bestseller list,^[13] with the hardcover reaching #3^[14] and the paperback spent several weeks at #1.^[15][16]

Blume has won more than ninety literary awards. In 2004, she was awarded the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.^[17] In 1996 the American Library Association selected Blume for its Margaret A. Edwards Award for her contributions to young adult literature.^[18] Blume received the Library of Congress Living Legends award in the "Writers and Artists" category in April 2000 for her significant contributions to America's cultural heritage. Several of Blume's books appear on the list of top all-time bestselling children’s books.

Blume is also an advocate for teachers reading aloud to their students. She gets an uncountable amount of mail from students and adults whose teachers read aloud to them. Blume herself has specific memories of being read aloud to by her teachers. Blume believes that if teachers would take the time to introduce good books to students, perhaps there would not be as many reluctant readers.

  Censorship

Though light in tone, many of Judy Blume's books deal with difficult issues for children, including questioning the existence of God, friendship, religion, divorce, body image, and sexuality. However, Blume has stated that she does not set out to tackle these issues when writing. She begins with a character, or sometimes a character and a situation.

Fans of Blume's novels have praised her use of real-life settings, ambivalent endings, and gentle humor. Her allegedly ambiguous treatment of moral issues made her at one time a regular target of school library censors and the Religious Right.^[19] Her books are still often challenged in school libraries. In fact, Forever was the second most challenged book of 2005, according to the American Library Association. In an interview with Publisher's Weekly, Blume states that the fear of censorship can be contagious. In another interview, Blume tells Judy Freeman, children's literature consultant and author, that the sadness came from a sadness for children who may not be allowed to read banned books. She said, "It says to them, 'There's something in this book we don't want you to know about, something we don't want to discuss with you.'" She is recognized as one of the most banned children's authors in the United States^[20] which eventually led her to edit a collection of short stories about censorship (Places I Never Meant to Be). Despite ardent attempts at censorship, Blume's young adult novels and books for children have sold 80 million copies worldwide.^[21]

In her efforts to preserve for young readers intellectual freedom in literature, Blume joined the National Coalition Against Censorship, which comprises fifty not-for-profit organizations that come together to fight censorship. Judy Blume has also founded or is closely affiliated with several other organizations regarding children’s literature and censorship, including, The Kids Fund, The Authors Guild (she serves, in 2010, as the group's vice president), the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and the Key West Literary Seminar. Blume is also the editor for a collection of short stories, Places I Never Meant To Be, Original Stories by Censored Writers. Blume also tells Freeman that censorship is not getting any better. There has been a rise in challenged books over the years. Blume urges teachers and writers who feel passionately about censorship to speak out and share their voice on the subject.

  Marriages and family

On August 15, 1959, she married John Blume whom she had met while a student at New York University; the wedding was held in the summer of her sophomore year of college. He later worked as a lawyer, while she briefly supported her family as a homemaker before pursuing teaching and writing.^[22] The Blumes had two children: Randy Lee, an airline pilot (born 1961), and Lawrence Andrew, a filmmaker (born 1963). The couple separated in 1975 and were legally divorced by 1976.^[23] Blume would later describe the marriage as "suffocating".^[24][25]

Shortly after her separation, she met Thomas A. Kitchens, a physicist. The couple married in 1976, and Kitchens moved them to New Mexico for his work. They divorced in 1978. She later spoke up about their split: "It was a disaster, a total disaster. After a couple years, I got out. I cried every day. Anyone who thinks my life is cupcakes is all wrong."^[24]

A mutual friend introduced her to George Cooper, a former law professor, now non-fiction writer. Blume and Cooper were married in 1987.^[26] Cooper has an only child from a previous marriage, a daughter named Amanda. They currently reside in Key West.^[27]

  Bibliography

  References

  Further reading

• Judy Blume. (1999) Authors and Artists for Young Adults (Gale Research), 26: 7-17. Summarizes and extends 1990 article, with more emphasis on Blume's impact and censorship issues. By R. Garcia-Johnson.
• Judy Blume. (1990) Authors and Artists for Young Adults (Gale Research), 3: 25-36. Incorporates extensive passages from published interviews with Blume.
• Judy Blume's Story by Besty Lee

  External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Judy Blume

• Official website
• Amy Gottlieb, entry about JUDY BLUME, A Jewish Women: A Comrehensive Historical Encyclopedia
• The Most Frequently Challenged Books from the American Library Association

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Judy Blume