05/20/2024

Journalist Bergstein (Brilliance and Fire) delivers a satisfying tribute to YA author Blume that emphasizes her novels’ feminist bona fides and traces her life story against the backdrop of cultural shifts around women’s sexuality and place in society. Crediting Blume’s books with distilling the values of the 1960s and ’70s sexual revolution for young readers, Bergstein celebrates the positive depictions of masturbation in Deenie and premarital sex in Forever for normalizing women’s pleasure. Bergstein tracks how Blume’s life has intersected with broader debates about women’s social status, noting that while Betty Friedan was writing about “housewives’ ennui” in the early 1960s, Blume had grown restless staying home to care for her own children and took up writing to stay occupied. Unfortunately, the cultural background sometimes overwhelms the ostensible focus on Blume, such as when Bergstein provides a lengthy account of a 1982 Supreme Court case over the legality of banning books from school libraries, even though Blume’s books hadn’t been challenged at the schools in question. (The frank discussions of sexuality in Blume’s books have made them a frequent target of other censorship campaigns, as Bergstein notes.) Still, Bergstein offers a thoughtful take on how Blume’s life and books translated for young people the gains of the women’s movement. Blume’s fans will treasure this. Agent: David Halpern, Robbins Office. (July)

A lively, important portrait of a true literary revolutionary, now 86, who matters even more today.”
—Los Angeles Times

“A fiery and inspiring look at one of our culture's most defining voices and her remarkable life story. Told with Bergstein's characteristic rigor and wit, The Genius of Judy reads like one of Blume's best, breaking our hearts and putting them back together again.”
—Marisa Meltzer, New York Times bestselling author of Glossy

“The Genius of Judy interlaces biography, textual analysis, and cultural history so deftly and so entertainingly that you don’t even realize how much you’re learning while you enjoy it. A tour of Blume’s life, work, and various contexts as approachable, wise, humane, and honest as the master herself.”
—Isaac Butler, author of The Method: How the 20th Century Learned to Act

“Bergstein’s ground-breaking book is analytical, smart and accessible, ultimately demonstrating how Blume’s work has contributed to ongoing cultural shifts across multiple generations of women.”
—Bookpage, starred review

“A thoughtful take on how Blume’s life and books translated for young people the gains of the women’s movement. Blume’s fans will treasure this.”
—Publishers Weekly

“A timely appreciation of an author who indeed 'represent[ed] something much bigger than herself'—and still does.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Affectionate... Bergstein's biography does ample justice to this national treasure.”
—Booklist

“Insightful and thoughtful, The Genius of Judy is a fantastic companion to Blume’s books and a fascinating look at American culture through literature.”
—The Book Reporter

“If you don’t typically go for nonfiction or history-based books, don’t turn this down. Bergstein’s narrative writing style moves like fiction.”
—The Skimm

“A must-read for Judy Blume fans, offering new and fascinating insight. Bergstein’s book will resonate with those who care deeply about protecting the freedom to read, and arrives at just the right moment.”
—Jessica Ralli, Co-author with Megan Madison of the First Conversations series (RISE X Penguin Workshop)

“The Genius of Judy is an intimate tale of an artist finding her voice: a coming-of-age story worthy of Judy Blume herself. Here Blume’s timeless work sparkles with new poignancy, and proves how vitally necessary it continues to be to let curious young readers have challenging, thoughtful books.”
—Avery Trufelman, host of the Articles of Interest podcast

★ 11/01/2024

Judy Blume has an unshakable presence in the adolescence of many folks, with writing that now holds a place of nostalgia. Bergstein's new biography offers a perfect blend of that connection juxtaposed against details from Blume's life that offer insight on her career and, perhaps more importantly, her individual self. Details from interviews, newspaper clippings, and other primary documents are the heart of the text, and Bergstein expertly creates a cohesive whole out of this tapestry of sources. Weaving together details of Blume's growing career with the complexities of her family relationships and the evolving political climate that provides the ongoing context for her writing, Bergstein has crafted something intimate and expansive, with the perfect mix of looking back in order to point a way forward. The censorship Blume faced early in her career is brought into conversation with current efforts to limit reading choices as well noting her continued presence as a feminist voice speaking up for young readers. This makes what could feel like a niche nostalgic work into a text with urgency and wide appeal. VERDICT An excellent purchase for school and public library collections.—Jen McConnel

Bergstein's work is less a biography and more an examination of Judy Blume's place in the evolution and expansion of children's and young adult literature. Beginning in the late 1960s, she introduced a new kind of realistic fiction to the fantasies and didactic stories already on the shelves. Mia Barron employs an almost professorial delivery as she weaves biographical snippets of Blume's life and identifies the new cultural forces that were awakening audiences to her trailblazing fiction in which young people found their own lives reflected in the stories they were reading. Barron's delivery is smooth and consistent, but there is no vocal differentiation between details on the backlash and censorship battles that continue even today and Blume's own comments on them. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

2024-04-19
A literary biography of Judy Blume argues for her lasting impact.

“What’s the secret ingredient that makes Judy Blume’s work so potent?” So asks Bergstein, author of Women From the Ankle Down, in her introduction to this book, revealing her personal admiration for the groundbreaking author and her thematic mission. Braiding together cultural context, Blume’s biography, and literary analysis, Bergstein answers her own question book by book. Of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (1970), Bergstein argues that what makes the protagonist “special” is that “she isn’t remarkable—but she is real.” The author’s exegesis of arguably Blume’s most famous book draws on elements of her subject’s adolescent years and the debate over sex education that roiled the U.S. in the late 1960s, as well as a close reading of the title itself. It’s an effective treatment, which Bergstein carries into her discussions of Blume’s later books. Her examination of Forever (1975) which “young readers were smuggling…around their social circles like contraband,” touches on such cultural landmarks as the adoption of tampon use by teenagers and the 1972 Supreme Court case that legalized access to contraception for unmarried people. In addition to Blume’s papers and published accounts, Bergstein draws on interviews with librarians, educators, and others. These yield insights into, among other topics, Blume’s relationship with her legendary editor, Dick Jackson, and book banning, both the 1980s wave that found Blume’s books in the crosshairs and the present-day one. Bergstein occasionally digresses, devoting more time to kindred spirit Norma Klein’s work than feels necessary, and she sidesteps opportunities to defend Blume’s writing against critics who complain about low literary quality. Nevertheless, readers can’t help but come away with a renewed appreciation for Blume and her legacy.

A timely appreciation of an author who indeed “represent[ed] something much bigger than herself”—and still does.