Episode · Stuff You Should Know · 2026-07-28
Books mentioned on The Beloved Judy Blume
Judy Blume is more than an author. She's a legend in teen literature for her frank and honest portrayals of adolescence.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Freckle Juice
Freckle Juice by Judy Blume is a beloved children's chapter book about a young boy named Andrew who goes to great lengths to buy a secret recipe for freckles.
Discussed“Uh Freckle Juice? Did not read that one. I did.”
Where to get it
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Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
Discussed“Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing? I did read that. I did, too”
Where to get it
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Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great
Discussed“Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great? I read that. That was a good one.”
Where to get it
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Blubber
Discussed“Blubber is the one, aside from Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, that I remember the most.”
Where to get it
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Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret is a classic young adult novel by Judy Blume that addresses the physical and emotional trials of adolescence.
Discussed“Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, that I remember the most. Yeah, uh I read both of those.”
Where to get it
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Then Again, Maybe I Won't
Where to get it
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Superfudge
Superfudge by Judy Blume is a popular children's novel that continues the humorous adventures of Peter Hatcher as he deals with the chaotic antics of his younger brother, Fudge.
Discussed“And I also read um Superfudge. Oh, I did, too. I'm sorry, I did, too. I read Superfudge.”
Where to get it
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Tiger Eyes
Discussed“Yeah, and then the one, what is it, Tiger Eyes, sounded familiar, but I'm not sure if I read those.”
Where to get it
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The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo
Discussed“The first one she came up with uh or at least the first one, her first published book was a children's picture book called The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo.”
Where to get it
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Iggie's House
Iggie's House by Judy Blume follows the story of a family moving into a suburban neighborhood and the children who try to befriend the new residents.
Discussed“and then eventually led to the publishing of her first novel, uh, Iggy's House.”
Where to get it
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The Outsiders
The Outsiders by S.
Discussed“S. E. Hinton, her um uh her book The Outsiders takes place among high schoolers.”
Where to get it
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The Chocolate War
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier is a powerful and unsettling young adult novel that explores conformity, bullying, and systemic corruption at a private Catholic high school.
Discussed“same with like the The Chocolate War by um what was his name? Robert um Ludlum? Yeah. Robert Ludlum's Chocolate War.”
Where to get it
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The Cat Ate My Gymsuit
Discussed“And then also there was another one called uh The Cat Ate My Gym Suit by Paula Danziger. That was fairly the all of them had to do with ninth graders or up, right?”
Where to get it
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Forever
Judy Blume's 1975 YA classic Forever addresses teenage sexuality and relationships, famously serving as a vital educational resource for generations of readers.
Discussed“I know her 1975 book Forever is not one that I read, but that's a very big book for Emily and I know a very big book for a lot of like uh probably girls of all generations, but Gen X girls in particular because that was the one where she had kind of been building up to, you know,”
Where to get it
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The Feminine Mystique
The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan is a landmark 1960s feminist text that famously challenged the domestic confines and widespread unhappiness of suburban housewives.
Discussed“Like, all the stuff that Betty Friedan talked about in The Feminine Mystique is embodied in the writing of Judy Blume.”
Where to get it
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Wifey
Discussed“She wrote four novels for adults. They were all best sellers as well. And they were all um sort of about her life experiences starting with Wifey in 1978 about a woman who was in a sort of traditional marriage.”
Where to get it
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Smart Women
Discussed“There's also Smart Women uh which was about women navigating dating and relationships after post like post-divorce.”
Where to get it
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Summer sisters
Discussed“Uh there's also one that came out in '98 called Summer Sisters. It's about a female friendship.”
Where to get it
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In the unlikely event
In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume is an adult novel inspired by the author's childhood experiences with a tragic series of three real-life commercial airline crashes that shook her hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey, in the early 1950s.
Discussed“And then In the Unlikely event uh from 2015, that was the one you mentioned that she wrote about a family going through those actual plane crashes that she went through.”
Where to get it
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Letters to Judy
Discussed“So she hopefully had permission, but she eventually put those out in a book called Letters to Judy colon what your kids wish they could tell you and this was in 1986.”
Where to get it
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Judy Blume
Discussed“And then there was another one. It was a a authorized and then unauthorized autobiography called Judy Blume: A Life that her friend Mark Oppenheimer published in March 2026 and that she publicly removed her support from, cut off contact with Oppenheimer, and then didn't explain to the public or Oppenheimer why.”
Where to get it
