Why Judy Blume Still Matters By Rebekah Buchanan

Rebekah Buchanan (she/her) is a Professor of English and Director of English Education at Western Illinois University and a former Fulbrighter (Norway Roving Scholar 2018-2019). Her research focuses on rural teacher education, feminism, activism, and literacy practices in youth culture, specifically through zines and music. She has written extensively on popular culture in the classroom, youth’s out of school literacy practices, music-based pedagogy, and punk. She is currently the Vice Chair of NCTE’s The Rural Assembly on English Literacy and Language Education (TRAELLE). She hosts New Books Network, New Books in Popular Culture Podcast and contributes regularly to School Library Journal and Library Journal.

Why Judy Blume Still Matters By Rebekah Buchanan

My first copy of Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret sits lovingly in my office. I have piles of Judy Blume books throughout my house and my office—old covers, new covers, revised versions. Blume’s works have been a staple in my reading and teaching lives as long as I can remember. 

​For my entire reading life Judy Blume’s work has been a what Rachelle Bergstein calls a road map. She’s taught—and still teaches—young readers that they do not need to be ashamed of their bodies or their sexuality. She lets young girls know that who they are matters, that their experiences are valued and valuable, and that they should be heard. Even with concerns that her texts (primarily written in the 1970s-80s) focus on heteronormative sexuality and identities, it is hard to deny her importance in the YA literary landscape.

​ Judy Blume started her career before young readers had access to social media or ways to quickly and anonymously get answers to questions about their bodies and sex. Blume’s work gave young people answers they often couldn’t find other places. Readers find a connection with her characters and see the genuine care and investment Blume has in them. They find humor and honesty that has a timelessness to it. Over the course of her career, Judy Blume has achieved things most authors do not. She has written more than 26 books that span from picture books to adult novels. First published in 1969, Blume’s work continues to be read, reprinted, and banned each year. 

My well-worn copy of Margaret where she still wears a period belt

Books for Younger Readers 

Although most discussions around Blume focus on her work for teens, her writing for younger readers is also important. It combines humor with the insecurities and awkwardness of being a grade schooler. She often explores sibling dynamics, connecting with readers around what it’s like to have to navigate childhood with someone who might not always be your favorite person. Her first book, The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo tells the story of Freddy Dissel. As the middle child, Freddy feels like “the peanut butter part of a sandwich.” When Freddy gets a chance to be the green kangaroo in the school play, he knows it’s his time to shine.

​Her two true middle grades series—Pain & The Great One and Fudge—make for wonderful high interest reads for younger students. (And perfect whole class reads.) Her Pain and the Great One Series tell the stories of siblings Abigail (the Great One) and Jake (The Pain) and their cat, Fluzzy, who shares stories from his point of view. The beauty of this series is Blume’s use of multiple points of view to show readers how two people (and a cat) can have very different experiences during the same event—something that we see happening often even today.

Her Fudge Series not only introduces readers to fourth grader Peter Hatcher and his nemesis Sheila Tubman, but his hilarious little brother, Fudge. While Peter spends time navigating a younger brother who seems to never get in trouble, but always causes it for Peter. And then there is Sheila Tubman refuses to let anyone know all her fears. From dogs to storms to swimming, Sheila instead lets everyone know that she isn’t afraid of anything. Through these series, we see the importance of humor and story for readers. 

Masturbation, Ableness, Teen Sex, and Loss—Three Judy Blume YA Novels

Blume’s work is often challenged because of her representations of sex and sexual pleasure. Not only does Blume tackle menstruation and masturbation in her books but she also challenges the way that American culture thinks about sex as a moral choice. Blume boldly focuses characters’ sexual choices on pleasure and health, allowing young readers to see sexual experiences through a more balanced lens than texts that take a moral approach to sexual experimentation. Although there are several of her YA books I could talk about, I want to focus on three that I think deserve a second read if you haven’t done so lately. I chose to focus on Deenie, and Forever… due to their discussions of sexual experimentation and Tiger Eyes because of how it examines the grief and complication with a sudden, violent loss.  

Still one of the only young adult novels about scoliosis, Deenie (1973) is the story of Wilmadeene “Deenie” Farmer whose mother is determined she become a model—even if Deenie doesn’t want to be one. Yet, when Deenie is diagnosed with scoliosis which during the time of the novel meant that she had to wear a Milwaukee brace, her mother’s dreams of Deenie modeling career are upended. Although Deenie has themes of ableism and complicated family dynamics, the book is mostly known for the explicit scene of masturbation, where Deenie finds pleasure and release during a difficult time in her life.

Deenie’s relationship with other people with disabilities is somewhat fraught. As a 13-year-old she struggles to see beyond her own experiences and only when she deals with her scoliosis does Deenie feel empathy for her peers who have physical illnesses. Deenie’s beauty is in how it deals with parental and societal expectations and her struggle to live up to those expectations. The complicated feelings of a young girl who navigates multiple doctor visits and isolation in school and in her social circles is relieved through physical pleasure which is normalized in the book. 

Forever… (1975) tells the story of high school senior Katherine Danziger and her progressing relationship with Michael, a boy she met at a New Year’s party. Throughout the book, Katherine and Michael become sexually involved, starting with mutual masturbation and moving to penetrative intercourse. Katherine learns about her body and desires. She obtains birth control and has sexual relations for pleasure—often orgasming during her experiences with Michael. After graduation, when Katherine’s goes to work at a summer camp in another state, she starts to have feelings for the older tennis coach, Theo. After meeting Theo, Katherine realizes that as much as she learned with Michael, she is not ready for forever. Katherine and Michael go their separate ways, and she pursues the relationship with the older Theo.

​What captivated me about Forever… when I first read it as a teen in the 1980s (Judy Blume is the voice of Gen Xers everywhere) was that Katherine’s story was one of female pleasure and empowerment. Even today, the way that female pleasure is written about (or not written about) is a topic that is often fraught with controversy. Some critique Michael’s constant request for sex as wearing Katherine down and not giving her true consent for their physical relationship. Yet, by exploring how the book represents heterosexual social norms and beliefs in the 1970s, how consent was—or was not—addressed and the ways young women approached sexual awareness and identity, young readers can discuss how consent and choice around sexual partners and relationships has transformed since the #MeToo movement and other modern representations of teen sexuality. 

My favorite Judy Blume novel, Tiger Eyes (1981), tells the story of 15-year-old Davey Wexler as she deals with the sudden death of her father. After her father is brutally murdered in a convenience store robbery, Davey, her mother, and younger brother Jason move from Atlantic City, New Jersey to Los Alamos, New Mexico to live with Davey’s aunt and uncle. In New Mexico Davey meets Wolf and Jane, who both play a role in her coming to terms with the death of her father. As a candy striper, Davey meets Wolf’s father a terminal cancer patient. The loss of their fathers brings Davey and Wolf closer together. Davey also deals with Jane’s struggles with alcoholism, seeking to find a way to help her friend while at the same time deal with her own grief. Davey’s mother finally convinces Davey to go to therapy with her, where she is finally able to mourn her father and let go of the paper bag she carries which contains the blood soaked clothing she was wearing as she watched her father die.

​When Davey, her mother, and brother finally return to New Jersey, she realizes how much she has changed for herself and how that might not be seen by people around her. Judy Blume has often talked about how Tiger Eyes was a cathartic book for her to write as she dealt with the sudden death of her father. That loss is apparent in the rawness of the novel. Losing a parent at a young age is difficult to come back from. Davey and Wolf find out that sometimes you meet the right person and the right time to help you through a difficult experience. In addition, Tiger Eyes’ premise of gun violence and sudden loss seems an ominous reminder that our country is still struggling with gun control 40 years later. 

Banning Judy Blume (have we not learned anything in 50 years?)

 The legacy of Judy Blume is more than as a writer. It is also as a staunch and unstoppable advocate for intellectual freedom and against censorship and book banning. In 2024, close to 50 years after its original publication in 1975, Blume’s Forever… has been removed from Utah public schools through HB 29 and removed in Florida’s Martin County schools. Throughout her career, Blume has been interviewed and interrogated about her books and how she feels about what is going on in the world of book banning. She shares her thoughts on censorship, including a resources guide and toolkit on her website. And, a quick Google Search will garner a myriad of articles and interviews on the topic. Although Blume has moved on from writing books to selling them at her store, Books and Book in Key West, Florida, she will never stop advocating for young people. She is a true warrior for readers. 

Until next time.