JUDY BLUME

Blume on the response to "Summer Sisters:" 300k WAV audio file 1Mb QuickTime movie Blume on efforts to have her books banned: 230k WAV audio file 780k QuickTime movie Blume's book Summer Sisters

Summer Blume

Judy Blume releases third adult novel

Web posted on: Tuesday, May 19, 1998 12:42:02 PM EDT

(CNN) -- For countless young girls around the world, the books of Judy Blume are practically a rite of passage into womanhood. Her coming-of-age novels have sold 65 million copies worldwide.

Her latest literary effort, however, is her third novel for adults. It's called "Summer Sisters." Blume spoke with Bobbi Battista on CNN Sunday Morning.

BOBBI BATTISTA, CNN ANCHOR: I am sure a million people have asked you, why now for an adult novel? I think it has been about 10 years since you wrote your last one. But I assume that it just evolved out of an idea that came to you at this particular time.

JUDY BLUME, AUTHOR, "SUMMER SISTERS": Thank you for understanding that. That is absolutely true. There is not any reason except when an idea comes, you go with it. And you are thankful that you have an idea.

BATTISTA: How did it come about? Where did you get the idea? And what is the story?

BLUME: Well, actually, it's about an enduring and intense friendship over a period of almost 20 years. It begins at a wedding. And I do not think it gives anything away to say that it begins at a wedding when one best friend, or "Summer Sister," is marrying the first love of the other's.

And then it goes back in time to when the girls were 12 in 1977 and takes you forward to when they are 30 in 1995. And the idea came the first summer that I spent on Martha's Vineyard, as I paddled around in my kayak, I thought: "What if?"

And that is the best way to get an idea.

BATTISTA: In many ways, I would think that women who read your books when they were younger would be very interested in this book. In a sense, it sort of brings them full circle, wouldn't you say?

BLUME: Yeah, I have been getting fabulous responses to it, actually, from women of all ages. I have a Web site, and they are coming to the Web to tell me about it. And women from 20-something to 70 have been telling me that this speaks to them. I think anyone who ever had a best friend, anyone who likes a love story, you know ... it is so much about all of the relationships in our lives.

BATTISTA: Yeah, I am about a third of the way through it. I cannot put it down, of course.

BLUME: Oh, thank you, I am glad.

BATTISTA: So, as you say, it is about best friends. A lot of the point of view is from that of 12-year-olds, as with many of your children's books. Why do you think that you are so comfortable speaking from the perspective of a young girl?

BLUME: I would have to say what I tell kids when they ask me how old I am. I ask them: "You mean inside? Or outside?"

I guess, inside I am still 12. But then there is that other side of me that has experienced being a woman for a very long time. And I like to deal with that from time to time, as well.

BATTISTA: I am like that, too. I think I stopped at about 16 or 18 and never went on.

The book is about passages, as many of your books are. And you have been writing books now for a really long time. I am kind of curious as to whether you think it is more difficult to be a child and go through those passages today than 20 years ago.

BLUME: To me, inside we never change. I mean, children, adolescence, older people -- what is inside links us all together. The externals may change. But those feelings and emotions, I think, remain the same. The human condition remains the same.

BATTISTA: You have won so many awards for your writing -- more than 90 over the years.

BLUME: Yes, but they are mostly from children. Let us remember that.

BATTISTA: Well, that's OK. They are good judges.

BLUME: It sounds like so many. But it is...

BATTISTA: But you have won a number of literary awards, as well. And I think it is interesting that you do have problems with censorship. And there is a certain element that does not like your books and works rather vigorously to get them banned.

Does that upset you?

BLUME: Of course, it upsets me. But, at this point, it upsets me much more for the message that it sends to young people, which is, there is something in these books that we do not want you to know. And if you do not read about it, you will never know about it. And that something, for the most part, is puberty, anything to do with sexuality. And, you know, they are all going to go through puberty, whether their parents want them to or not. So ...

BATTISTA: A lot of parents are afraid of that, in many ways.

BLUME: Well, not a lot. But some, I think, just want to ignore any kind of sexual education, anything having to do with their children's sexuality. And fear is contagious. And censorship preys on one's fear. And a lot of people get scared, including school administrators who send the word to the librarian, or teacher. "Don't buy anything controversial. We don't want any trouble in our community."

BATTISTA: Do you think the atmosphere is even worse today than it was 20 years ago for this sort of censorship?

BLUME: Yes, definitely. I mean, the '70s, when I began to write, was a very good time in terms of writing for children. I think in 1980, after the political election, the censors crawled out of the woodwork overnight. I mean, there are statistics to prove that.

And it has not gone away into the '90s. Here we are almost at the end of the '90s. And it is still there. There is good news, too, Bobbi. And the good news is that people are becoming more aware. Young people are studying the First Amendment in school.

What better way than to learn: "This is what can happen if you remain apathetic." If you want your freedom to read, you may have to speak out to protect that freedom.

BATTISTA: We always ask our authors before they go what they are reading. And I understand with you it depends on whether or not you are writing.

BLUME: Definitely. I cannot wait for this summer when I am going to take off and just read, read, read. And I think the first book that I will read is John Irvings's new novel. Because I am a John Irving fan.

Related story:

• John Irving's "A Widow for One Year" -- First Chapter

Related site:

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

• Judy Blume's Official Web Site

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

---

 

---

Sound off on our message boards & chat

© 1998 Cable News Network, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

Terms under which this service is provided to you.