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Buzz Book Club: The End of Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned From Judy Blume

BuzzSugar — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:30:27 PDT

Welcome back, Buzz Book Club readers! We've reached the end of Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned From Judy Blume. This section contained some of my favorite essays of the entire book, and I'm excited to chat about them with you after the jump.

But more about that in a second. First, for those of you new to my book club format, here's how it works: every week I'll suggest chapters to complete by the next post (which, in this case, have gone up every Friday in July). In these weekly posts, I'll posit a few discussion-provoking questions for you to respond to in the comments section.

Of course, you are always welcome to read beyond the weekly chapters, but please don't spoil anything in the comments! After the jump, you'll find some questions that struck me as I read this section.

Now, to discuss the end of the book, in which we read from "The Wienie Girl's Guide to Making Friends" to the end, just

The Sally J. Freedman lover in me was thrilled to read "Brave New Kid." I love the way author Diana Peterfreund tapped into exactly the thing that made me love Sally: she wanted to be an adventurous, questioning kid, and that was also my main goal at that age. Thinking about the book characters (not necessarily Blume's) that you've loved over the years, can you identify why you loved your favorites?
I'm not an oldest kid, but "Superfudged" still cracked me up. Are any of you oldest siblings, and did you see yourself (or your siblings) in the Fudge books?
The details in "Are You There, Margaret?" were great - like the E-S-P on the front of the author's t-shirt and the R-I-T on the back. If you were writing one of these stories about your own childhood/teenagehood, what details would you use about your attire, music choices, etc.?
Now that the book is over, did you have a favorite essay? A least favorite? One that surprised you?
Can you think of other influential authors who deserve this kind of anthology tribute?

Buzz Book Club: Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned From Judy Blume, Section Three

BuzzSugar — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 08:30:06 PDT

Welcome back, Buzz Book Club readers! This week's section of Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned From Judy Blume really brought back memories as the authors reflected on a wide range of Judy Blume novels, from It's Not the End of the World to Tiger Eyes.

But more about that in a second. First, for those of you new to my book club format, here's how it works: Every week I'll suggest chapters to complete by the next post (which, in this case, will go up every Friday in July). In these weekly posts, I'll posit a few discussion-provoking questions for you to respond to in the comments section.

The next assignment: Finish the book! We'll discuss this section next Friday, July 31.

Now, to discuss the third section, in which we read from "It Wasn't the End of the World" through "The Mother of All Balancing Acts," just

Reading "It Wasn't The End of the World" got me thinking about characters we latch onto at different stages of our lives. When you pick up a book, do you look for characters with whom you can identify? Or do you look for an escape to a different world? And has that changed since you were younger?
After all the Deenie love earlier in the book, "Freaks, Geeks, and Adolescent Revenge Fantasies" sure put a different spin on things. Have you ever read a book where terrible things happen to the main character and you thought, "Ha! That's what you deserve!" If you read Deenie, did you identify more with Deenie herself or with the characters like "the Creeping Crud"?
I think my favorite part of "Guilty's House" was actually the line in Jennifer Coburn's bio about what her mom told her when someone called her "weird": "Weird was simply a word used by boring people to describe interesting ones." That's a piece of wisdom that would be right at home in one of Judy Blume's books! Have you noticed any other lines like that?
Man, I wish I had the Judy Blume diary as described in "A Different Kind of Diary." That story also touched on one of my worst fears as a kid: having my diary found and read aloud! Diaries were actually a big theme in this section, as Beth Kendrick's hilarious entry about her mom shows up in "The Mother of All Balancing Acts." If you kept a diary as a kid, can you still remember what it looked like? Have you ever reread it?
Have any of the essays encouraged you to seek out other writing from these authors? Do you think any of them have Judy Blume potential?

Buzz Book Club: Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned From Judy Blume, Section Two

BuzzSugar — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:30:17 PDT

Welcome back, Buzz Book Club readers! This month, we're focusing on how one of the iconic authors of my youth affected tons of women writers by reading the essay collection Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned From Judy Blume. This week, we read another group of essays by writers who had some very different thoughts on how Blume's writing affected their lives.

But I'll get to that in a second. First, for those of you new to my book club format, here's how it works: Every week I'll suggest chapters to complete by the next post (which, in this case, will go up every Friday in July). In these weekly posts, I'll posit a few discussion-provoking questions for you to respond to in the comments section.

The next assignment: Read from "It Wasn't the End of the World" through "The Mother of All Balancing Acts." (Stop before "The Weenie Girl's Guide to Making Friends.") We'll discuss this section a week from today, July 24.

Now, to discuss the second section, in which we read through "Vitamin K, Judy Blume, and the Great Big Bruise," just

I'm amazed how many of these writers have specific memories of the way Blume talked about sexuality and even masturbation. I don't remember Judy Blume's books being that dirty, but at least one of you said you remember being kind of uncomfortable with her sexual themes. Do you remember noticing that at the time you read Blume? Or were you oblivious?
On a related note, do you think Judy Blume fans fall into "Sunday Cartoon Camp" and "After-School Special Camp," as Stacey Ballis suggests? And which were you?
Another thing that's surprised me is how many of the writers mention Deenie! That book has come up in nearly every essay. I can't say it was ever my favorite, but looking back, it probably makes sense that it had such a deep effect on people: it deals a lot with themes of appearance, self-confidence, and identity that are often significant to teen and preteen girls. Were you a Deenie fan?
I really enjoyed "Forever . . . Again" and the way the author discussed her rediscovery of Forever. . . as an adult. Would you ever turn to a favorite old book - especially a young adult book - for help with an adult problem? Do you ever reread books you loved as a teenager or preteen?
At this point, I think I prefer the essays that don't talk about the author's own writing to the ones that do. Do you think it's odd when the writers talk about their own work? Or, since Blume inspired many of them to write in the first place, do you think it's perfectly appropriate?

Buzz Book Club: Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume, Section One

BuzzSugar — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:30:23 PDT

Welcome back, Buzz Book Club readers! This month, we're focusing on how one of the iconic authors of my youth affected tons of women writers by reading the essay collection Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume. So far, I've been impressed with just how many of the writers had similar experiences reading and learning from Blume's books - but I'll get to that in a second.

First, for those of you new to my book club format, here's how it works: Every week I'll suggest chapters to complete by the next post (which, in this case, will go up every Friday in July). In these weekly posts, I'll posit a few discussion-provoking questions for you to respond to in the comments section.

The next assignment: Read from "Cry, Linda, Cry" through "Vitamin K, Judy Blume, and the Great Big Bruise." (Stop before "It Wasn't the End of the World.") We'll discuss this section a week from today, July 17.

Now, to discuss the first section, in which we read through "A Long Time Ago, We Used to Be Friends," just

Did Forever. . . have the kind of mystique for you that Megan McCafferty describes in the book's opening essay? Or was there another Judy Blume book that did? I remember thinking the period scenes of Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret held some kind of secret, revelatory knowledge - but Forever was deemed "the one about sex" and I don't think I ever actually got my hands on a copy!
What do you think of Jennifer O'Connell's definition of a "Judy Blume moment"? Do you have any "Judy Blume moments" of your own? I know I'm still terrified of Man o' Wars because of Starring Sally J. Freedman As Herself.
Do you think the characters in the Judy Blume books you read were "regular girls," as Stephanie Lessing suggests? Or did they strike you as unrealistic?
What do you think of the characterization of female friendships in "A Long Time Ago, We Used to Be Friends"? I thought the author captured well the feeling of growing apart from a formerly close friend without even noticing until the break is permanent. At the same time, I think female friends can be a lot more than companions who "travel down the road with [us] as [we] either seek out or wait for The One."
Is there a particular favorite Judy Blume book of yours that's already come up in an essay? Is there one you hope comes up later?

Buzz Book Club: Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume

BuzzSugar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:30:43 PDT

Welcome back, Buzz Book Club readers! We're deep into Summer reading season, and that makes me even more excited about my selection for July: Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume.

See, Judy Blume is the epitome of Summer reading for me. In my pre-teen years, I spent long Summer afternoons by the pool poring over Deenie or Superfudge or whichever Blume classic I'd grabbed from the library most recently. I still have my well-loved paperback copies of Just as Long as We're Together and Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself, the ones I read the most - often finishing one and immediately starting the other.

So I was delighted to stumble upon this essay collection, which features women writers including Meg Cabot and Megan McCafferty reminiscing about their own experiences reading Blume and the (sometimes shocking) lessons learned from her books. (One essay is titled "Do Adults Really Do That? Does Judy Blume Really Do That?")

For those of you new to my book club format, here's how it works: Every week I'll suggest chapters to complete by the next post (which, in this case, will go up every Friday in July). In these weekly posts, I'll posit a few discussion-provoking questions for you to respond to in the comments section.

To read more about this month's book and get your first assignment, just

A synopsis of this book reads:

"I remember how painful it was to be invisible to those other kids. And I think of Judy Blume, whose . . . name will always mean friendship to me," writes Berta Platas. "She allowed me to save myself," says Meg Cabot. In stories contributed by many well-known female writers, this anthology pays homage to the "guru" of adolescent experience. Many nostalgic selections speak about the crucial comfort that a Blume novel brought during an author's teens, soothing worries about body image, parental divorce, friendship scuffles, sex, and masturbation. Also striking are the many essays about "Judy Blume moments" in adult life. For one author, rereading Forever helped her reenter the dating world as a single thirtysomething. Another contributor remembers the teenage reassurance she'd found in Are You There God? It's Me Margaret, when, after childbirth and breast-feeding, she once again suffered from "boob drama." Funny, poignant, honest, and reverential, these stories will resonate strongly with the legions of readers who, like the authors, are grateful and lifelong Blume devotees.

The first assignment: Read the first five essays. (Stop before "Cry, Linda, Cry.") We'll discuss this section next Friday, July 10.