Age 5: The phone rings. A stranger on the other end of the phone asks, “Do you play with yourself?” I consider telling the truth, but I’m embarrassed. No one has ever asked me about this before. My aunt swoops in fast, telling me to hang up.
Age 7: A bully on the playground tells me to pull my pants down OR ELSE. He flicks his Swiss Army knife open. By some stroke of grace, he doesn’t chase me when I run.
Age 9: Enter Judy Blume. Are you there God…? Yes. God is there. On every page. Of every book. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing; Then Again, Maybe I Won’t; Deenie; Superfudge; Blubber; Forever (Forever, forever, forever).
Until Judy Blume’s novels came into my life, the only people inclined to communicate with me about sex were predators. The impact her work on my formative years is immeasurable. She shaped my ideas about myself, about love, about sex. I can’t fathom what waiting for my first period would have been like without having read Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret.
Take this: a boyfriend’s palms covering his soon-to-be ex-girlfriend’s naked breasts. He squeezes (gently, if I recall) one, then the other, over and over. He is sad. And she is, too. But they’re parting ways because it’s for the best. That’s from my memory of Forever, and the image has stayed with me all this time. I swear if I hadn’t read that book I would have married my first love. I would have missed out on zillions of adventures. I would have been trapped in rural suburbia, the best thing on my calendar dodging former classmates and allergens at the annual hay-infused county fair.
Judy’s stories didn’t have to be about puberty or sex. I loved getting lost in her characters’ lives. She made me into a hungry reader. And I suspect she made me into a writer, too.
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Photo credit: Steven Guzzardi | Used under CC by ND 2.0
This post was written for Wicked Wednesday, a site where writers share erotic stories (fiction and non) every week. The fun is hosted by the brilliant and gorgeous Marie Rebelle of Rebel’s Notes, whose endeavors you can support at Patreon.
Read more fab Wicked Wednesday “Books” entries here!
Melina Greenport 
She’s been hugely formative for me, too. Did you ever read the book of letters she’d received from her readers?
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Oh, no, I have to check that out!! Thank you for mentioning it.
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Ahhh Judy Judy. Amazing. I adored her books – just made everything make sense. Such an important discovery.
I’m going to read the reader’s letters too! Thanks! X
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Oh, I bet those letters are heart wrenching. .. Thank you so much for taking the time to visit & comment, Tabitha! xoM
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I am so bad with names that I cannot remember if I ever read any of her books. I read so much when I was younger…
I love how you have written this post to show how important she was in your life.
Rebel xox
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Thank you, Marie!! xxM
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“Tales of a fourth grade nothing”. Even with a boy as the main character it had a huge impact on my life.
Gotta love Judy Blume.
Great piece. 🙂
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Great point. This conversation kind of makes me want to revisit the books and read from a writer’s perspective to see how the genius of Judy did it. 🙂
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oh gosh, i cannot even start with Judy Blume…i mean i love everything…so much of her books stayed with me…ever read Wifey? the cock dance scene?
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Wifey is the one book I always used to talk about with my friends “The B! J!” but whenever I tried reading it (as a kid) I couldn’t get interested.
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yeah, you have to be a certain age to appreciate wifey…
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I should really revisit it… xx
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me too!
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I’ve not read Judy Blume, but I enjoyed your reminise immensely. Cool pic too.
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Oh, thank you so much!!
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So much YES! Forever was such an important book for me. Made me realise I could be proactive about contraception and that sex was not something that boys just did to you. Also, made me utterly convinced that naming your penis was NOT a sexy thing 😉
Mollyxxx
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OMG, I had forgotten about RALPH!!!
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Oh my gosh. All of this. I can still remember flicking to ‘the’ pages in Forever (90 & 105 if I remember!), but Tiger Eyes was my favourite (reread last year) and I loved Deenie too! Xx
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I’ve forgotten Tiger Eyes. I’ll have to check that one out. Thanks for reading & commenting, dear! xM
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