Gen X readers, this one is for you! Although I didn’t realize it at the time, it’s hard to overstate how influential Blume’s writing has been on a generation. From the iconic Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret helping us understand our bodies in a frank, funny, relatable way, to tackling bullying and body image issues in Blubber, Blume used fiction to deliver the wisdom we needed on our bodies, puberty, and even sex, in an honest and engaging manner.

The Genius of Judy is an homage to Blume’s collected works and their undeniable social impact. As a suburban mom who wrote what she knew, Blume may not have set out be revolutionary, but she revolutionized YA fiction all the same. I didn’t know until recently how controversial her books were (and indeed, still are in some circles), and this book does a great job of conveying how the so-called moral majority challenged her books and inspired Blume’s passionate activism against censorship. The author also skillfully ties Blume’s legacy into the current political and social climate, cementing Blume’s enduring relevance and her unparalleled impact on literature for readers of all ages.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Simon Audio for providing me advance copies of this book.

I didn't expect this book to hit so hard; of course, I knew Judy Blume's books were an important part of my childhood, but I never thought about why. Especially as someone who didn't have adults I could talk to, these books were a way for me to see that childhood and adolescent feelings are normal. This book does such a great job of going through the books one by one, showing what was happening in Blume's life and what she thought about the books' reactions. Of course, her books are frequently banned -- they're frank, direct, and realistic. But they're also heartwarming and fun and show different kinds of families and how they support each other. Thanks so much to NetGalley for letting me read this.

Thank you @atriabooks & @netgalley for sending me this review copy. Opinions are mine.
“An intimate and expansive look at Judy Blume’s life, work, and cultural impact, focusing on her most iconic – and controversial – young adult novels.”
When I saw this book, I knew I needed to read it.
The Genius of Judy takes the reader through Judy’s life as she became a wife, mother and author. It situates her books at the time in which she was writing them – socially, politically, and economically. It touches on controversial topics for the time like divorce, body image, teenage love, sex education and banned books. Bergstein writes, “we, the pre-internet generation, genuinely needed Judy Blume. She was dropping nuggets of truth and wisdom that kids couldn’t get anywhere else at the time.”
Judy’s own personal experience is also reflected in some of her most famous books, connecting her life to her writing.
Judy Blume has definitely been having another moment. From the release of the Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret movie, to the Judy Blume Forever documentary on Amazon Prime, a new generation has the opportunity to learn about her wonderful books, and many of us get to discover them all over again. The author states, “we need Judy Blume now because she understands this moment better than anyone.”
As Bergstein writes, “Thank you to Judy Blume, for writing books that truly changed the world.”

The Genius of Judy covers the impact that Judy Blume has made in the lives of her readers. This book also covers different battles with censorship that Judy had to face.

I thought this book was amazing. It does a wonderful job at looking at what was happening in the world when Judy Blume was writing her books. This book also does an amazing job at citing its sources and talking about other books that were being written around the same time. If you grew up with Judy Blume, love her books, or are just looking for an awesome nonfiction read, I recommend checking this book out!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Atria Books for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review!

The Genius of Judy was the perfect read for this year's Banned Books Week. Not only did this book remind me why Judy Blume's books were such an important part of my own adolescence (Are You There God, It's Me Margaret and Forever were both pivotal texts in my own coming of age), but it also demonstrated how Blume is an incredible example of someone who stands up for her own values in the face of scrutiny and challenge. Furthermore, she is not afraid to learn and grow and change, which sometimes means examining her own (perhaps outdated) language or plot choices through a contemporary lens. I truly appreciated Bergstein's biography, both as a nostalgic former-childhood reader of Blume's work, as well as a teacher of middle grade literature.

Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced reader copy.

This is a book for fans of Judy Blume, but if you're reading it because of book bans/challenges, this isn't it. The focus is on feminism and her career more than it is on the first amendment.

I learned a lot about Judy and her family in this book, but not directly from Judy herself. Instead, her words come from interviews and articles. I don't know if Ms. Bergstein wanted to speak with Judy Blume or not, but this left me feeling like she was not a part of the process.

The author does go through the synopsis of a number of Judy's books and discusses how they brought 'realness' to children/teen publishing. She pushed boundaries and showed (mostly) girls going through major (and minor) life events. In the real world, a lot was changing, especially for women, and her children's books showed that childhood was changing, too. There's discussion of the lack of respect for her books, despite their popularity with the people for whom they were intended.

I enjoyed the book but would have liked more input from Judy Blume. I realize that it wasn't the author's intention to write a biography of Judy, or to dissect book banning, Second-wave feminism's impact on Judy Blume's career is the crux of the book.

My thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Judy Blume is someone I really look up to. Not only does she own one of my favorite bookstores (Books & Books in Key West), but the work she does against book bans is so admirable.

I read Blume a lot as kid and have also read Summer Sisters as an adult. In truth, I don't recall her books having more sexual content or really even caring? My parents didn't care either. It was interesting to read how she went about tackling so many important topics in all of her books.

Blume is truly a trailblazer and the only thing I wanted to see more of here, is more interview bites from Judy from recent years.

Sharing my love of Judy Blume is still strong. Reading this book reignited the my love for the books. My favorite times are reading Judy Blume with my young goddaughter. Thank you to the author for writing & celebrating Judy Blume.

This book is a wonderful tribute to the career of Judy Blume. I read some Blume as a child and even more as an adult and even though I enjoyed her work I neve realized what a huge impact she had on both the middle grade book space and on our society. In a time when more and more books are being banned I think it is critical that we look to pioneers like Judy Blume who were willing to push against the norm and to explore themes that are so critical to children and teens. While I think this is a great book for someone who is new to Judy Blume I don't think it offers up anything new to someone who already has knowledge of her legacy. Thank you to the publisher and Net galley for a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I wasn’t sure what to think about this book coming into it, as I’ve never been a particular fan of Judy Blume as a reader, and was more an appreciator of her contributions and of what she’s done for kids, especially young women.

This detailed paean to Blume’s oeuvre and intentions turned out to be deeply riveting even for someone who hasn’t read all of the books, and who enjoyed the one she did more in intent than in experience.

Particularly in this era of book bans and religious interference into the lives of children and their parents, Blume’s work and this discussion of her work feels especially important.

Thank you to Atria for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Read if you 🩷:
• 📚 Author Biographies
• 📺 Childhood Nostalgia
• 🚫 The History of Censorship
• 🙌 Empowering Stories

Everyone knows Judy Blume, but how did a suburban housewife become the revolutionary author whose books shaped generations? "The Genius of Judy: How Judy Blume Rewrote Childhood for All of Us" uncovers how Blume’s honest stories about real kids and their struggles challenged societal norms, sparking both cultural change and censorship battles. As her books continue to face bans even today, this biography shows why Blume’s fearless storytelling remains a vital force in our world.

It was a treat to learn more about Judy and how many of her main characters have parallels to her own life. Growing up, it’s rare to think about a children’s author and how they have a life behind the pages. This biography is a great way for adults to appreciate the hard work and dedication behind their favorites like "Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret" and "Blubber."

I do wish this book had gone deeper into the social commentary related to her books. There were large sections dedicated to summarizing her more popular novels, but by the time Bergstein began to dive into the rise of censorship, there were only a few chapters remaining.

Despite these few downfalls, "The Genius of Judy" is still a good read for those who want to start learning more about Judy Blume. It’s a quick read for a biographical piece and could kickstart an important conversation about censorship in children’s literature.

Equal parts biography, literary analysis, and cultural commentary about the impact Judy Blume's work has on the children's/young adult book industry. OKAY, I loved this. It focuses on Judy's most popular work (the YA books she wrote in the 1970s/ early 1980s) and I was so nostalgic for the days of Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret; Forever; Deenie, etc. The back half of this deals heavily with book banning and the turn of the tides in which Blume's groundbreaking work was deemed controversial. It's so infuriating to read about these bans, especially as history repeats itself.
Remember: reading is political. Would rec this one if you're also a lifelong Judy Blume stan. It's so well done: could have read another 200 pages of it!

I enjoyed a number of Judy Blume books over the years (I was even one of the teens that Bergstein describes in the book that would pass around a copy of "Forever"), most recently Tiger Eyes, which I loved. This book is sort of a bibliography of Blume's books, biography of her life, and description of how her books were affected by and affected the society they came into.

Overall it was an interesting book, but I felt like there was a lot of quoting from the books themselves, and a lot of details about people Bergstein interviewed about the book. I preferred the parts about Judy's life and about how her books affected the readers she was trying to reach. For each book, including those that may have inspired Blume but weren't even written by her, there was a full summary as well as a lot of details. I found myself skipping a lot of pages.

This book is for you if you are nostagic for Judy Blume books and/or are interested in how her books added to the women's rights movements of the 60s and 70s. However a lot of the biography and news events related to her books would be just as enjoyable to read about in a Wikipedia article.

I recieved an advanced copy and am giving an honest review.

Whether we grew up with Judy or our kids grew up with Judy, she was a writer that we knew we could trust. It is reassuring to learn more about her and to know that she's the person we believed she was when we read her books. Thank goodness for the Judy's of our world in this day and age. It's great to see her getting her well deserved moment at a time when her books are more needed than ever.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. She's classic, thank goodness!

How many Judy Blume books have you (or your children and maybe even grandchildren) read? Judy Blume was a popular author at our house and we still have signed -with love- copies of Freckle Juice and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, plus photos of our children meeting her. But her writing was controversial, too; Blume was "the country's most-banned author in the mid-1980s." And, unbelievably, one of her books was just banned statewide in Utah (see The Guardian article for more). In a newly published book called THE GENIUS OF JUDY Rachelle Bergstein explores "How Judy Blume Rewrote Childhood for All of Us." The tone is slightly academic, but the stories about how Blume started writing and the impact she is still having are fascinating. Bergstein includes a timeline and offers over two dozen short chapters on topics important to Blume and her readers (e.g., pre-teen girls, rebellion, divorce, censorship). My favorites were the last two chapters which deal with Libraries and Legacy. I am proud to recommend Judy Blume's books and am so grateful for the impact she had on our family and many others. THE GENIUS OF JUDY is a LibraryReads selection for July.

Interested readers may also want to watch the documentary, titled Judy Blume Forever, currently streaming on Amazon Prime:
Preview link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4EN3j0XbqU

Indeed, her stories are OUR stories.

My bias is that write children's literature, so I'm reading this book with a few different things in mind. I read Judy Blume in elementary and middle school, and some how went on to read adult scifi and nonfiction and missed all the controversial books with masturbation and sex. It is very interesting to read this book now while we're in another ridiculous book banning. I appreciate Judy Bloom's willingness to stick to her convictions, because although people get weird about thinking about young people's sexuality, you people need to find answers and things they can relate to in a positive way (rather than all teen girls who have sex should end up pregnant and deeply shamed.) Putting this in historical context was really helpful for me. Also, it's always interesting to see how any author matures and changes and what things influence their writing.

I have mixed feeling on this one.

While I did enjoy it, overall. I also didn’t. I loved Judy Bloom books as a kid. So I think they need to be “banned”, no. But I also see were todays parents are coming with these books. After listening to this audiobook, I loved what I learned about Judy. Personally and with her books, but also see why she could be disliked.

Overall, I enjoyed it enough to recommend it if others want to read it too

I really enjoyed this book! It gave great insight to Judy Blume’s life and her work. It also serves as an excellent history lesson.

3.5 stars. I have always loved Judy Blume so I immediately requested this as soon as I saw it pop up. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. This was an in depth look at her career, especially censorship and the challenges Blume's works have faced due to people thinking they can control other's and this gross overreach of power.

If I thought I loved Judy before, I really love her now! A very in depth look into someone we all know and love.