The famous YA author you should have on your radar

Judy Blume has only slightly updated her books over the years, doing things like changing the type of menstrual products used in “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret” from belts and pins to adhesive pads ( by NPR). She also modernized the electronics of the “Fudge” series. The edits didn’t fundamentally change the books, they just made things smoother for the modern reader.

Although his most popular tracks were released in the 1970s, they still resonate. Many young people today don’t even realize how old the books are. “They don’t know I wrote them generations ago. They think I wrote them yesterday for them,” Blume told NPR.

Her writing always perfectly captures the whirlwind of emotions inside a tween about to become a teenager, or inside a teenager experiencing romantic love for the first time. She told the New York Times that the defining age of her life was 12. “I had no adult experience when I started writing,” she explained. “So I identified more with the kids.”

Comedian Samantha Bee loved Blume’s books as a child, and it thrilled her when her own daughter discovered “Are you there, God? It’s me, Margaret.” Bee said (per The New York Times), “My daughter is reading this book now. She’s [nine], and she loves it. It’s so fun for me to see this book reflected in his eyes.”