The Iconic Judy Blume Will Release a New Book in June
"Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret." "Freckle Juice." "Deenie." "Blubber." "Just as Long as We're Together."
With titles like those under her belt, the author needs no introduction. A mere glimpse at those words on a screen automatically induces the softest smile and the remembrance of an innocence we once knew. As the title of a recent New York Times magazine article explained, "Judy Blume Knows All Your Secrets." Yes, she does.
We don't mind that this author, whose children and young-adult books have been translated into 32 languages, can see into our souls. Judy Blume's books helped us to uncover and reframe the angst we felt growing up; her insight seemed almost divine. She gave us permission to be nervous about adolescence. She offered us a glimpse into the lives of teen girls who became our big sisters, haphazardly navigating the very experiences we were headed into.
She taught us what it meant to be human. She united us. Every girl. Everywhere. Every race. We understood.
Approximately $80 million dollars in sales later, the 77-year-old is releasing her first book since 2009's "Forever." The new title, "In the Unlikely Event," is an adult novel due out in June which focuses on the aftermath of a series of plane crashes that occurred in the early 1950s in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where Blume grew up. Blume told the New York Times that she had been researching her latest book since 2009 and this would be the first time that any of her books were set in the days of her own youth.
Blume says she has met so many emotional fans who seem awestruck by her presence. With all the wisdom of a woman who has created so many well-loved books, Blume says: "It's because of what I represent; I'm your childhood."
