Various individuals and organizations have condemned Blume's work for its treatment of sexuality and language. Many of them have fought to keep some of her books out of reach of children, off the shelves of public and school libraries. Rather than sitting silently by as her books and others are censored, Blume has lent her voice to the work of civil liberties organizations. A number of critics have also come to her defense. Since the mid-1980s, they have pointed out that her books are funny, her narrators often speak directly to the reader, her characters communicate with one another realistically, and she leaves solutions up to her characters. Blume's books, some say, are about growing up and learning to make choices. "Sex is the least of her concerns," observed Mark Oppenheimer in the New York Times Book Review. Although the debate about Blume's appeal and appropriateness continues, one thing is certain. As Alice Phoebe Naylor and Carol Wintercorn, writing in the Dictionary of Literary Biography (DLB), put it, Blume "revolutionized realistic fiction for children." In the words of Oppenheimer, Blume "opened" the flood gates in children's fiction to candid discussions of the many problems children face today.
Blume was born in New Jersey in 1938.
This is a free page. This page contains 197 words. This
biography contains 3,800 words (approx. 13 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Biography with our Judy Blume Access Pass.
