Blume, Judy

(US 1938– )

At the height of her popularity Judy Blume was a publishing phenomenon, receiving over a thousand letters a week from teenagers who felt that she understood their problems, and that her books helped them to make sense of the world. She has written with humour and sensitivity for younger readers, too, as in Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (1972) but is at her best when addressing the preoccupations of young adults. The onset of menstruation—Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret (1970)—and first sex—Forever (1975)—for example, are sensibly explored in her work, and Forever appeared at a time when frankness about sexual matters was much rarer in teenage literature than it is today. Her autobiographical novel, Sally J. Friedman by Herself (1977), and books such as Deenie (1973) are very readable. She has a lively and colloquial style, and even if what she writes is not deathless prose, she is an accomplished story-teller with a winning narrative voice.

Anne Fine, Berlie Doherty.

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