No one does the ache, the joy, and the silliness of growing up quite like Judy Blume. Her books for kids, teens, and adults tackle some of life’s hardest and most meaningful challenges with the signature Blume wit and heart. To this day, Judy receives thousands of letters a year from readers of all ages who share their feelings and concerns with her. Because she gets it.
In celebration of Summer Sisters becoming a Read with Jenna book club pick, we’re revisiting Judy’s iconic work that reminds us we never stop changing and learning about ourselves and the people around us…even if we feel grown.
For the Young at Heart
A Read with Jenna August 2023 Pick and narrated by a full cast! In the summer of 1977, Victoria Leonard’s world changes forever when Caitlin Somers chooses her as a friend. Now, years later, Vix is working in New York City. Caitlin is getting married on the Vineyard. In Summer Sisters the early magic of their long, complicated friendship has faded. But Caitlin begs Vix to come to her wedding, to be her maid of honor. And Vix knows that she will go—because she wants to understand what happened during that last shattering summer.
Margo and B.B. are each divorced, and each is trying to reinvent her life in Colorado. But even Smart Women sometimes have a lot to learn—and they will, when B.B.’s ex-husband moves in next door to Margo.
Wifey is the story of Sandy Pressman: a nice suburban wife whose boredom is getting the best of her. She could be making friends at the club, like her husband keeps encouraging her to do. Or working on her golf game. Or getting her hair done. But for some reason, these things don’t interest her as much as the naked man on the motorcycle…
For Kids & Teens
Narrated by The Prom star Caitlin Kinnunen! Katherine and Michael are in love, and Katherine knows it’s forever–especially after she loses her virginity to him. But when they’re separated for the summer, she begins to have feelings for another boy. What does this say about her love for Michael? And what does Forever mean, anyway?
If his parents or his friend Joel or Joel’s sixteen-year-old sister Lisa knew what Tony was thinking about a lot of the time, they’d probably freak out. About snitching on Joel, who Tony knows is a shoplifter. About watching Lisa undress each night and liking what he sees. About money and the changes it makes in people. In Then Again, Maybe I Won’t, Tony takes on real problems and math problems.
Nicky has freckles. Sitting behind him in class, Andrew once counted eighty-six of them. One day after school, Andrew works up enough courage to ask Nicky where he got his freckles. When know-it-all Sharon overhears, she offers Andrew her secret Freckle Juice recipe—if he pays. Then the unexpected happens…
Second grader Freddy Dissel has that left-out kind of feeling. Life seems lonely when you’re the middle kid in the family squeezed between an older brother and little sister. In The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo, it’s Freddy’s chance to show everyone, including himself, just how special he is!
When an eight-year-old girl and her six-year-old brother take turns describing each other, it’s no surprise that The Pain and The Great One are the nicknames that emerge. As this duo debates whom Mom and Dad love most, their competition becomes increasingly humorous–because when it comes to family affection, there’s no such thing as win or lose.
Bonus! Our friends at Books on Tape did an interview with Judy about banned books and the new audio edition of Forever…. Listen on, Blume fans!