The Los Angeles Review of Books features a triplet of delicious essays on Judy Blume books and their influence on each author as they navigated the harsh terrain of their pre- and teenage years.
In “Judy Blume Was Right: On Reading Deenie Twice,” Nina Berry writes:
Judy Blume was interwoven with my tween years as much as slam books, homework, and awkward flirtation with boys. Blume’s clear, unselfconscious prose made it seem normal to think about sex, to ask questions about religion, to worry whether your boobs were big enough. Pre-teen life was complicated and weird, but by addressing it so straightforwardly, Blume made it feel a bit more manageable.
