Informationen zum Autor Kirsten Anderson; Illustrated by Ted Hammond Klappentext Learn how Judy Blume went from a stay-at-home mother to one of the most beloved American authors of the twentieth century. Readers adore Judy Blume for her personal stories about the journey from childhood to adolescence. She has always been an imaginative person and an avid reader. As a child, Judy spent time looking through library shelves for the perfect books, and if she couldn't find the right ones, she entertained herself by making up stories in her head. When she got older, Judy started writing her stories down. Although readers fell in love with characters like Margaret Simon and Fudge Hatcher, some parents challenged some of her titles, including Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret , for discussing sensitive issues. Despite all the controversy, this award-winning author and her books have remained popular among fans, both old and new. Zusammenfassung Learn how Judy Blume went from a stay-at-home mother to one of the most beloved American authors of the twentieth century. Readers adore Judy Blume for her personal stories about the journey from childhood to adolescence. She has always been an imaginative person and an avid reader. As a child, Judy spent time looking through library shelves for the perfect books, and if she couldn't find the right ones, she entertained herself by making up stories in her head. When she got older, Judy started writing her stories down. Although readers fell in love with characters like Margaret Simon and Fudge Hatcher, some parents challenged some of her titles, including Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret , for discussing sensitive issues. Despite all the controversy, this award-winning author and her books have remained popular among fans, both old and new.

Autorentext

Kirsten Anderson is a freelance writer and actress who lives in New York City with her charming Pomeranian, Sunflower. She has written several biographies for children, including Who Was Andy Warhol? and Who Was Robert Ripley?

Klappentext

Learn how Judy Blume went from a stay-at-home mother to one of the most beloved American authors of the twentieth century.

Readers adore Judy Blume for her personal stories about the journey from childhood to adolescence. She has always been an imaginative person and an avid reader. As a child, Judy spent time looking through library shelves for the perfect books, and if she couldn't find the right ones, she entertained herself by making up stories in her head. When she got older, Judy started writing her stories down. Although readers fell in love with characters like Margaret Simon and Fudge Hatcher, some parents challenged some of her titles, including Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, for discussing sensitive issues. Despite all the controversy, this award-winning author and her books have remained popular among fans, both old and new.

Leseprobe
Who Is Judy Blume?
 

By 1968, Judy Blume had been writing stories and books for children for several years. She had sent her work to publishers but had only sold a few stories. That was a start, but she dreamed of having a book published.
 
Judy had been making up stories in her head her whole life, but she had only started to write them down when her children, Randy and Larry, began school. Without her kids at home, Judy didn’t have much to do. She tried new hobbies. But she was bored. Then Judy tried writing. Suddenly, she had found something she loved to do. Writing was the easy part, though. The hard part was finding someone to publish what she wrote.
 
That changed when she got the phone call. It was from a publishing company. They had read an idea for a picture book she had sent them called The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo. And they wanted to publish it!
 
Judy was so excited. Someone actually was going to publish a book she had written! She ran down to the basement, where her children were playing with their friend Laurie. They were molding Silly Sand into different shapes. Judy grabbed handfuls of the Silly Sand and began to throw it into the air. She picked up her kids and spun them around. Laurie stared at Mrs. Blume and then went home crying. Through her tears, she told her mother that Randy and Larry’s mother had gone crazy.
 
Judy Blume hadn’t gone crazy. She was simply celebrating. And—although she didn’t know it—she was on her way to becoming one of the most popular children’s authors of all time. 
 
Every year, new generations of young readers discover her stories and see themselves in the characters she has created—kids who are just like them. They worry about the same embarrassing things. They struggle with the same problems. Through her characters, Judy has talked about many things other adults wouldn’t explain.
 
And to her many fans, she has become a hero who lets them know that they aren’t the only ones who question what is happening around them—with their families, their feelings, and even their own bodies. In Judy’s books, young readers can see that the world isn’t a perfect place, but it is often a hilarious one.
 
 
Chapter 1: Elizabeth, Miami, Elizabeth
 
 
Judith Sussman was born on February 12, 1938, in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Her father, Rudolph, was a dentist. Her mother, Esther, was a stay-at-home mom. She had a brother, David, who was four years older than her. 
 
Her father was outgoing, fun loving, and adventurous. Her mother was quieter and worried about everything: She worried about her family getting hurt. She worried about whether Judy was doing well in school, about how Judy looked, and even if Judy had any friends. Judy was a combination of both her parents. She tried to be adventurous, but she also worried a lot.
 
Judy was very shy when she was young, but she always had a vivid imagination. She made up stories while she bounced a ball off the wall of the house. She took piano lessons, then pretended that she was a piano teacher with her own group of students. She even had a notebook in which she kept track of her imaginary students’ lessons. She dreamed of being a cowgirl, a spy, an actress, a ballerina, or a detective when she grew up. 
 
Judy’s father was an air-raid warden during World War II. He was supposed to help move people to safer places if the town of Elizabeth were ever bombed. Her mother and grandmother knitted sweaters to send to the soldiers fighting in Europe. The whole family sat around the radio in the evenings and listened to news about the war. Judy could hear her parents whispering about it late at night. She worried about the possibility of the war coming to America and about her town being bombed.
 
Her stories were her escape, though. In real life, she might have feared many things. But in the stories she made up, Judy always beat the enemy. She was always brave and strong. She was the hero. Although this made her feel better, she kept her stories secret. Adults often seemed to have secrets. Why shouldn’t she have them, too?
 
Judy loved going to the movies and reading. She would visit the library and just wander past the shelves, picking up anything that looked interesting. Her favorite books were the Nancy Drew series, the Oz books, and the Betsy-Tacy books, about two friends in Minnesota. 
 
In 1946, Judy’s brother became very sick. His doctor suggested that moving to a warmer place might help David’s health. Judy and her mother, brother, and grandmother all moved to Miami, Florida, for the year. Her father stayed in New Jersey to be near his patients and continue working. He came to visit the…