Judy Blume

Several students have asked me if I had Judy Blume's Forever because a classmate was passing around a copy.

I calmly said "Why, no, we don't have that, but here are her other books. Why don't you look at those?"

All the while, my inner 7th grader is saying "No! You'll get her in trouble! You're not supposed to be reading that!"

So I had to pick up Jennifer O'Connell's Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned From Judy Blume. It's an excellent read for young adult librarians for several reasons: it reminds us of how powerful books can be for children, it reminds us of books we read, and all of the essays are curiously lacking in any presence of a librarian! There are some instances of teachers or adults recommending books, but most often, Blume's books were recommended by friends. Interesting.

Blume's books have fallen out of favor in my library, but many of her titles are being rereleased in paperback this spring. Most of the books were written 30-40 years ago. Even I wasn't reading books written in the 1930s when I was a teenager.

I would have died a thousand deaths before asking my librarian for Forever. I got a copy the way perhaps everyone should-- with the cover ripped off and the "good parts" highlighted. It was all the more interesting because it was something that was forbidden.