Judy Blume has been top of mind as conversations swirl around library and school book bans.
Mentions of Blume, an Elizabeth native, filled tweets Wednesday as part of the discourse about the school district book ban in Tennessee of Pulitzer Prize-winning Holocaust graphic novel “Maus” and Texas book bans affecting other titles that talk about race and sex and feature LGBTQ characters.
The discussion inspired people to pay tribute to Blume and her memorable coming-of-age books, known for demystifying supposedly unmentionable topics and drawing the ire from some parents through the years as a result.
Blume has always said that her writing comes from her own experiences growing up in New Jersey, not an effort to stir controversy.
“I believe that censorship grows out of fear, and because fear is contagious, some parents are easily swayed,” Blume says on her website. “Book banning satisfies their need to feel in control of their children’s lives. This fear is often disguised as moral outrage. They want to believe that if their children don’t read about it, their children won’t know about it. And if they don’t know about it, it won’t happen.”
Soon, a film based on one of Blume’s classic young adult novels — one that has weathered challenges and book bans — is headed to theaters.
“Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” is due out in theaters from Lionsgate Sept. 16, Deadline reports.
The movie, based on the 1970 Blume book of the same name, became possible after the author granted the film rights to writer-director Kelly Fremon Craig (”The Edge of Seventeen”) and Gracie Films, the production company of writer, director and producer James L. Brooks, 81, who grew up in North Bergen.
Previously, Blume, 83, declined film offers for the “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” a book centered on a sixth grader named Margaret Simon who moves to Farbrook, New Jersey from New York City.
Blume’s novel talks about religion and friendship but also diffused taboos around subjects not often addressed with a young audience, taking on puberty, menstruation, sexuality and more.
For decades, there have been calls for bans of the book. But Blume’s novel has long been a must for girls and young readers. In 2018, after nearly 50 years, she agreed to let Fremon Craig and Brooks handle the film adaptation.
Abby Ryder Fortson (“A Dog’s Journey”), 13, stars as 12-year-old Margaret; Rachel McAdams plays Margaret’s mother, Barbara Simon, who is Christian; Benny Safdie (co-director of “Uncut Gems”) is her father, Herb Simon, who is Jewish; and Kathy Bates plays her grandmother, Sylvia Simon, who nudges Margaret toward Judaism.
Fremon Craig wrote and directed the movie, which filmed in North Carolina last year.
Blume, who operates a nonprofit bookstore in Key West, Florida, saw her 1981 novel, “Tiger Eyes,” become a 2012 movie directed by her son Lawrence Blume, a Plainfield native.
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Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com and followed at @AmyKup on Twitter.
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