E-Books So many of you have been asking, here's what's available now --- Summer Sisters Smart Women Wifey Just as Long as We're Together and Here's to You, Rachel Robinson (two books in one package under BFF) The Pain and the Great One, a four book series: Soupy Saturdays Cool Zone Going, Going, Gone! Friend or Fiend? All the Fudge books: Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing Otherwise Known As Sheila the Great Superfudge Fudge-A-Mania Double Fudge We're working on making the rest of my books available. Expect good news soon.

New Book

I'm writing again and it feels good! It's early in the first draft so I can't say much except this is the novel I started in spring, '09, then put away for almost two years because of the opportunity to film Tiger Eyes. Though I tend never to talk about a book while I'm writing it I'll just say I'm enjoying being back in the 50's, a decade I hated when I actually lived through it. So bland, I thought, so boring! But this time I know everything that's going on underneath, everything that was left unsaid, the secrets that were kept not only from the children, but from friends and neighbors, and I find it fascinating. This is a complicated story to tell -- my job is to tell it as well as I can. Is it YA or adult (or maybe both)? Too soon to know.

 

Tiger Eyes — It's a movie! We filmed it in New Mexico in the fall of 2010 in 23 thrilling days, and thrilling to work with my son, Larry, too. It would take a book, or at least a long blog post, to tell you everything about the making of Tiger Eyes and I'll do that one day. But for now I'll say only that we were blessed to have Willa Holland as Davey. I don't think we knew when we cast her, how luminous she would be on screen. Her beautiful and expressive face took our breath away when we first saw the dailies. And still does. The dazzling Elise Eberle plays Jane, Davey's new friend. In real life Elise has graduated from high school, so watch out world! And Tatanka Means plays Wolf. I'm mad about Tatanka! (His real life father, Russell Means, plays Mr. Ortiz). But I could go on and on about our cast and crew for pages. And some day I will, just not now. I can only say filmmaking is a crazy business, stressful and intense, most of it out of your control. It's amazing that any movies get made, let alone good ones. Let alone on an indie budget. I have such respect for those filmmakers who keep going, who have a vision and don't give up. Stay tuned for info on release.

 

Skype Visits I got my feet wet last school year and while it's amazing to think I can see a class full of kids anywhere in the world, and they can see me, I definitely don't have it down yet. But I have ideas and will be working with my publishers on ways to improve the visits. It's still a new technology. New to the schools, too. The publishers will be doing the scheduling from now on. Whew -- that will help! Will let you know once we know more, probably next year.

 

Judy's Latest News:
If you really want to know what's going on, follow Judy on Twitter.    Follow @JudyBlume Recent tweets:	Since Judy discovered Twitter in October 2009, she's been tweeting instead of blogging. She still blogs occasionally. Click here to check out Judy’s Blog

 

Summer Sisters has new cover art.

 

 

New Audiobooks The Pain & the Great One: Series of 4 chapter books for ages 5 - 8 Also available as a box set of 4 paperbacks. Other Audiobooks - Are You There God, It's Me Margaret; Deenie; Freckle Juice and The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo; Just As Long As We're Together; Here's To You Rachel Robinson; Tiger Eyes; Then Again, Maybe I Won't; It's Not the End of the World; Blubber; Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself and Iggie's House. Watch for more Audiobooks coming soon.       Check out the Trade paperback editions of Judy's classic novels

 

 

Judy's Coming Appearances

»» This April help Judy Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing!

»» April 18, '12 - Texas Library Association Convention. Judy will be signing at the Penguin Booth (10:00 - 11:30 a.m. CST) and speaking (2:00 - 3:50 p.m. CST).
Location: George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston, TX. Conference Registration Required.

»» April 19, '12 - Dallas Museum of Art "BooksmART." 7:00 p.m. CST
Location: First United Methodist Church, 1923 Ross Avenue, Dallas, TX; Open to Public with ticket.

»» April 21, '12 - Los Angeles Times Festival of Books: one-on-one conversation with Judy and book signing. (Details to come.)
Location: Boulevard Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA

June 19, '12 - Algonquin Book Club: Conversation between Judy Blume and Tayari Jones. (Details to come.)
Location: Barnes & Noble, New York, NY

 

June 21, '12 - The Mark Twain House. (Details to come.)
Location: Hartford, CT

A Few Highlights from Judy's Recent Events

December 13, '11 - BookTalk Nation: Judy participated in a half-hour, national phone-in interview event with author Rachel Vail. BookTalk Nation is a new series of phone-in author interviews sponsored by the Authors Guild, which seeks to support traditional, physical booksellers and highlight the key role they play in promoting a vibrant literary culture. "They just should be cherished and celebrated," said Judy of indie booksellers. Did you miss Judy Blume's booktalk with Rachel Vail? You can listen here.

November 28, '11 - NPR: Talk of the Nation interview including questions from the listening audience.

 

November 28, '11 - The Smithsonian Associates' presentation of McGovern Award to Judy Blume.

 

May 27, '10: Washington, DC

The White House celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month (see Judy's Blog of Friday, June 4, 2010: THE PURPLE JACKET GOES TO THE WHITE HOUSE)

 

May 16, '10: New Jersey

Rutgers University Presentation of Honorary Degree - Doctor of Letters (see Judy's Blog of Monday, May 24, 2010: THE GRADUATES)

 

May 8, '10: Harvard, MA

Induction into The Harvard Lampoon at Harvard University (see Judy's Blog of Wednesday, June 2, 2010: VIXEN)

 

May 2, '10: New Jersey

Induction into the New Jersey Hall of Fame - Class of 201o (see Judy's Blog of Wednesday, May 12, 2010: JERSEY GIRL)

March 16, '09: Key West, FL
Friends of the Key West Library Lecture Series - Meg Cabot and Judy chat about writing fiction for young adults. Check out Judy's Blog of March 28, 2009 for insight into their conversation.

Meg and Judy.

September 27, '08: Chicago, IL

Banned Books Week Read-Out! Judy and other frequently challenged authors joined Chicago celebrities and read passages from their favorite banned and challenged books.

 

August 27, '08: New York City, NY
The Today Show on NBC featured Judy. (see Judy's Blog of August 27, 2008: Yesterday on Today)

Click to view.