To Elaine, who taught me to read and shared Judy Blume books with meKA
To my kids, Stephanie and JasonTH
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
ISBN 9780448488493 (paperback)
ISBN 9781524788520 (library binding)
ISBN 9781524790158 (ebook)
Version_1
Contents
Who Is Judy Blume?
By 1968, Judy Blume had been writing stories and books for children for several years. She had sent her work to publishers but had only sold a few stories. That was a start, but she dreamed of having a book published.
Judy had been making up stories in her head her whole life, but she had only started to write them down when her children, Randy and Larry, began school. Without her kids at home, Judy didnt have much to do. She tried new hobbies. But she was bored. Then Judy tried writing. Suddenly, she had found something she loved to do. Writing was the easy part, though. The hard part was finding someone to publish what she wrote.
That changed when she got the phone call. It was from a publishing company. They had read an idea for a picture book she had sent them called The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo . And they wanted to publish it!
Judy was so excited. Someone actually was going to publish a book she had written! She ran down to the basement, where her children were playing with their friend Laurie. They were molding Silly Sand into different shapes. Judy grabbed handfuls of the Silly Sand and began to throw it into the air. She picked up her kids and spun them around. Laurie stared at Mrs. Blume and then went home crying. Through her tears, she told her mother that Randy and Larrys mother had gone crazy.
Judy Blume hadnt gone crazy. She was simply celebrating. Andalthough she didnt know itshe was on her way to becoming one of the most popular childrens authors of all time.
Every year, new generations of young readers discover her stories and see themselves in the characters she has createdkids who are just like them. They worry about the same embarrassing things. They struggle with the same problems. Through her characters, Judy has talked about many things other adults wouldnt explain.
And to her many fans, she has become a hero who lets them know that they arent the only ones who question what is happening around themwith their families, their feelings, and even their own bodies. In Judys books, young readers can see that the world isnt a perfect place, but it is often a hilarious one.
CHAPTER 1
Elizabeth, Miami, Elizabeth
Judith Sussman was born on February 12, 1938, in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Her father, Rudolph, was a dentist. Her mother, Esther, was a stay-at-home mom. She had a brother, David, who was four years older than her.
Her father was outgoing, fun loving, and adventurous. Her mother was quieter and worried about everything: She worried about her family getting hurt. She worried about whether Judy was doing well in school, about how Judy looked, and even if Judy had any friends. Judy was a combination of both her parents. She tried to be adventurous, but she also worried a lot.
Judy was very shy when she was young, but she always had a vivid imagination. She made up stories while she bounced a ball off the wall of the house. She took piano lessons, then pretended that she was a piano teacher with her own group of students. She even had a notebook in which she kept track of her imaginary students lessons. She dreamed of being a cowgirl, a spy, an actress, a ballerina, or a detective when she grew up.
Judys father was an air-raid warden during World War II. He was supposed to help move people to safer places if the town of Elizabeth were ever bombed. Her mother and grandmother knitted sweaters to send to the soldiers fighting in Europe. The whole family sat around the radio in the evenings and listened to news about the war. Judy could hear her parents whispering about it late at night. She worried about the possibility of the war coming to America and about her town being bombed.
Her stories were her escape, though. In real life, she might have feared many things. But in the stories she made up, Judy always beat the enemy. She was always brave and strong. She was the hero. Although this made her feel better, she kept her stories secret. Adults often seemed to have secrets. Why shouldnt she have them, too?
Judy loved going to the movies and reading. She would visit the library and just wander past the shelves, picking up anything that looked interesting. Her favorite books were the Nancy Drew series, the Oz books, and the Betsy-Tacy books, about two friends in Minnesota.
