Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned From Judy Blume

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Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned From Judy Blume

by Jennifer O'Connell (Editor), Meg Cabot (Goodreads Author), Beth Kendrick (Goodreads Author)

3.43 of 5 stars 3.43 · rating details · 1,381 ratings · 285 reviews

"I wonder if Judy Blume really knows how many girls' lives she affected. I wonder if she knows that at least one of her books made a grown woman finally feel like she'd been a normal girl all along. . . ."

-- FROM

Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from

Judy Blume

Whether laughing to tears reading Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great or clamoring for more...more

Paperback, 288 pages

Published April 14th 2009 by Gallery Books (first published June 5th 2007)

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Jul 24, 2008 MaryAnn Harlan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It brings back so many memories of Judy Blume books, and that time period where every girl I knew read Judy Blume - we tried increasing our bust size like Margaret, and shared the pages in Forever (you know the pages), we all knew Judy Blume characters, they were the books of our childhood, and early adolescence.

It also brought me back to why I am a reader, what I find in the pages of a book and what I look for. I am a lit major - I spent a lot of years deconstructing and analyzing words and st...more

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Dec 28, 2007 Torie rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fans of the ''chick lit"

I was so excited to read this book. I recently bought my 12-year old niece the "Best of Blume" 4-book set for Xmas. It has all my favorites: Are You There God?, Blubber, Starring Sally J., and Iggy's House. I was probably fresh from the rapturous online purchase when I noticed Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl in the "People who bought this book also liked.." bullshit section. So I jumped up from my desk and headed to the stacks with my call number, eager to hear what kind of magic...more

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Jan 09, 2008 Mary rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

While occasionally offering something genuinely touching or amusing or what-have-you, this collection of essays by current girl-teen and chick-lit authors on their connections with various Blume characters served mainly to remind me that Anything You Should Need To Know About Your Girlhood Can Supposedly Be Learned from Judy Blume. There’s a recurring mantra in these books that I remember reading on their covers years ago, the idea that they reflect the secret identity of every girl. Here you ca...more While occasionally offering something genuinely touching or amusing or what-have-you, this collection of essays by current girl-teen and chick-lit authors on their connections with various Blume characters served mainly to remind me that Anything You Should Need To Know About Your Girlhood Can Supposedly Be Learned from Judy Blume. There’s a recurring mantra in these books that I remember reading on their covers years ago, the idea that they reflect the secret identity of every girl. Here you can discover someone Just Like You, find answers to some of your most distressing questions, and take comfort in the fact that you are not alone. Except, of course, if you happen to be The One Girl in the World who isn’t Margaret. (For example.) For me, as for any other non-Margarets, these same books – books that communicated to several hundred thousand girls that they were not alone – bore a singular message that I was and always would be a freak. For me as for them, reading Judy Blume (post-Fudge, I mean) was proof positive that whatever I was, I wasn’t a girl. A claim that these books could teach “all we needed to know about being girls” must implicitly define “girl” with a seriously heteronormative slant, as a healthy non-hetero-sexuality constitutes a significant barrier between a reader and any of Judy’s girls. (That said, having read such a compelling recommendation of her in this collection, I like to believe JB would have further expanded her plot lines to meet the needs of her young audience, had the need occurred to her. But given that she didn’t...) This commentary, like the books it discusses, fails to be as all-appealing as it intends. Ultimately, although I was occasionally hopeful as an essay began (Megan Crane’s piece on what it’s like to break up with your best friend struck a few chords and alluded to the Veronica Mars theme, which won it bonus points; Linda Curnyn excited actual finger-crossing when she reframed her first best-friendships as “crushes”), they all pounded back an old theme: Such books as make us happy, we could, if need be, write ourselves. And need be. If you want a book about what it’s like to read Judy Blume as an asexual, a sexphobic, or a burgeoning lesbian, you’re going to have to write it yourself. [Note to the publisher: Perhaps a companion collection along the lines of "Letter to My Grade-School Librarian: Where Did You Put the Nancy Garden"?](less)

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Sep 13, 2007 fleegan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

so far the essays in this book are great. it's interesting to read about how much these women authors loved judy blume's books, and how much the books helped them during their adolesence. i remember reading judy blume books, but not really loving them because they were all about girl stuff and i wasn't so girly. the whole thing about "oh no! i'll be the last girl in my class to start my period! why god, why?!" i totally didn't get. well, that and by the time i read it ('80s) we didn't have to us...more

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Jul 28, 2007 Andrea rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Judy Bloom Fans

Shelves: read-non-fiction

For all those Judy Bloom fans out there - boy does this book bring back some memories and make you want to crack open those old volumes and see what insight you can get from them now that you are past awkward adolescence. (Indeed, some of the contributors speak to this very thing.) However, after a awhile the essays got a little old. They seemed to say the same thing and focus on the same Judy Bloom books and/or characters (I lost count of how many times "Forever" was referenced). On one hand th...more

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Aug 21, 2008 Kendra rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

You have no idea how much I wanted to like this book. I was a huge Judy Blume fan as a kid, so I figured that a tribute to her had to be pretty good as well. Nope. Perhaps if the 20-some contributing writers had each written something unique, the book would have been tolerable, but it's nothing but "Just like Sally J. Freedman, I..." and "Like Margaret, I..." through the whole damn thing. And, if I counted correctly, the plots of Deenie and Forever... were re-hashed 6,000 times. There were one o...more

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Feb 23, 2012 Deb rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

*Judy knew best*

When I felt that wave of nostalgia that hit me when I spotted Judy Blume's name scripted in girly letters in on the front cover, I knew this book was a must read. And, reading the essays written by the 20-to-40-something female authors in this book, I remembered just how much Judy Blume's own books were must reads for navigating the perpetual perplexities of puberty.

More than just a trip down memory lane, these essays depict how Judy's fictional stories comforted so many of us du...more

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Aug 06, 2011 Nikole rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Everything I Needed To Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume synopsis is very simple. Twenty-four authors discussing how Judy Blume's novels impacted their adolescence and their adulthood. Whether the subject was parents divorcing, or growing into sexual maturity, Judy Blume somehow always knew exactly how to approach it on a level that her audience would be able to relate to.

As a big fan of Judy Blume, I was ecstatic when I came across this collection. I couldn't wait to revisit som...more

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Mar 01, 2010 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: gender-studies, humor

In films, they typically show people doing one of two things when in the home of someone for the first time, be they a potential friend or foe:
1)snooping in their medicine cabinets or
2)scanning the titles on their bookshelves.

While I've never done the first I do the second regularly. If a potential friend still has some of the best young adult fiction alongside the most dense non-fiction titles proudly and to balance them out, then it's a pretty safe bet we are going to be good friends. The V...more

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May 14, 2009 Vicki rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction

There are moments where this book slips. That's no surprise, what with the fact that it's a collection of essays from so many different female writers. Some essays get boring, a few come with that unpleasant realization that you don't like the person writing them. But they're all pretty interesting in that they show how important Judy Blume books were for women who were teenagers in the 70s, 80s and 90s. I work with teen readers at a library. I don't see them hustling to pick up Forever...I thin...more There are moments where this book slips. That's no surprise, what with the fact that it's a collection of essays from so many different female writers. Some essays get boring, a few come with that unpleasant realization that you don't like the person writing them. But they're all pretty interesting in that they show how important Judy Blume books were for women who were teenagers in the 70s, 80s and 90s. I work with teen readers at a library. I don't see them hustling to pick up Forever...I think Gossip Girl and The Luxe series has kind of supplanted JB's particular variety of advice and exposure. Maybe that's something that we'll just have to live with -- modern girls won't be the sort who sneak around copies of Judy Blume's racier stuff, or their mom's copy of Clan of the Cave Bear (or whatever that goofy ass Jean M. Auel novel is called), or even Flowers in the Attic, which to this day is one of the most disturbing books I've ever come across. They know more than we did about sex acts. But when it comes to figuring out how we feel about that stuff, I think teenagers then and now and before are the same -- it takes some navigating.

That's where JB comes in. These essays are so cool because they sort of validate how much of our thinking about growing up and sex and friendship came from her books. Nobody was saying quite the way she was. And she's still a very powerful voice.

I think the best essay in the book is actually one in which one writer talks about how the books have evolved for her. When she was a kid, she identified with the kids of the book. Now that she's an adult, she sees how fleshed out and real the mother characters are. And she said that she thinks that were she to read the books as a grandmother, she would probably identify with those characters. So, yeah. Not every essay in this book will knock you out. But some of them will. The main thing that pops out is the power of those characters and situations and how we felt about it all when we first read it, and how those feelings sneakily inform parts of our characters. Who else does as universally as JB?(less)

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Nov 04, 2009 Leslie Jem rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: memoir-essay

It's been way too long since I read an essay collection. This book reminded me of why Judy Blume (and authors like her) is so important. She explains hard topics to children without talking down to them, or making their own parents look like the enemy. I need to reread her books! Some quotes to remember:

"No one inspired loyalty like JB, and whether you liked your boooks serious or humorous, you waited impatiently for the Troll Book Orders to arrive, to see what new Blume delights accompanied you...more

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Jul 31, 2009 Lori rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2009

Be careful when you go looking for "light reading." You just might get it.

I loved Judy Blume as a girl, so I thought I'd enjoy this book. I finished it, but that's the highest praise I can give to it as a whole. A couple of the essays are good, but this book lost me big time in the middle, when I hit a patch of essays all about the same Blume book. Hello, Ms. Editor? When you're putting together a book of essays, it's better to try to round out the collection with some variety. It's nice to know...more

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Jul 19, 2010 Tracie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, beach-reading

I never realized how much I learned about life from Judy Blume! "Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret?" was read so frequently that I own two copies, both well-loved. Other classics like "Shelia The Great", "Deenie", and "Tiger Eyes" still make me smile. O'Connell's book is a lovely/hilarious/poignant stroll down Blume Lane. Her contributors remind us of the clandestine readings we all did of "Forever..."--who didn't pass that around their 8th grade class, hiding it under their bed, so you would...more

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Dec 25, 2009 Mandy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Essays were pretty uneven, but I love these kinds of collections and seeing what books meant to different people. It's kind of an unfortunate choice that all of the writers were chick lit authors--it would've been neat to see how universal Blume's appeal was through more than racial and geographic diversity. Part of what was great about Girl Sleuth is it addressed how Nancy Drew could influence politicians, writers, and all kinds of women looking for strong female role models--and only "The Moth...more

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Feb 12, 2008 daysgoby rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a romp, remembering books I haven't read in years.

I enjoyed it, especially hearing other perspectives on the Blume books (I didn't pick up on the coming-of-age and embracing-her-sexuality of Deenie at all when I read it)

but it did get a bit long. VERY good if you read a few, then walked away for a few days, instead of gulping the book down.

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May 12, 2012 Mickey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Although I read some Judy Blume books when I was young, I never considered myself to be a Judy Blume girl like most of these contributers did. If I had to pick an author whose books reflected my life and sensibilities, I would probaby be a cross between a Robert Cormier and Paul Zindel girl and have grown into a Francois Mauriac woman.

Even though I missed having my own personal nostalgia bath with this book, I thought that some of the essays were excellent and described their passion for the boo...more

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Nov 03, 2011 Lauren rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As with any compilation of essays, they were hit or miss. Adored Meg Cabot's essay, others were kind of redundant. I had no idea Blubber and Forever... had such life impact for so many. I was more taken with Are You There God It's Me Margaret but I enjoyed them all. I certainly agree with the sentiment expressed by all the authors: growing up in the 1970's, especially in Catholic school, I learned far more about navigating the world from Judy Blume than any other source, and I continue to be gra...more

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Dec 24, 2012 Melissapalmer404 rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Book #84 Read in 2012
Everything I Needed to Know about Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume
edited by Jennifer O'Connell

This book features a variety of authors detailing how the works of Judy Blume affected them as they were growing up. Blume receives a nice tribute from these authors and acknowledgment that her works were meaningful to slews of readers. Many of Blume's books are mentioned, but titles such as Forever, Deenie and Tiger Eyes and Are You There God, It's Me Margaret receive several...more

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Nov 15, 2011 kb rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 4ever-young-adult

I read Judy Blume's Forever when I was v. young. You could imagine how that scarred/confused me. But does that stop me from claiming it as one of my favorite books ever? 'Course not. Thanks to her, I was a few steps ahead of my friends back then, even though I didn't understand everything happening in the story then, LOL. Turns out, with this book, I'm not the only one grateful for Judy Blume. It was soooo great to read about my favorite authors, like Megan McCafferty, writing about how Blume's...more

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Mar 22, 2011 Amber Freeland rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a must-read for any girl who grew up reading Judy Blume books. The book is a collection of essays and reflections by other "chick-lit" authors who were heavily influenced by Blume. Each author picks a Blume book that had a powerful impact on their life and discusses how that book related to their life and in some ways even changed it. My favorite passage was one about friendships gone bad, when your best friend turns against you and cuts you out of their life. Someone loaned me this book...more

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Mar 03, 2010 Anne-Marie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I consider myself someone who isn't in to short stories. But then almost every time I read a book of compiled shorts, I change my mind and decide that I should read more short stories. Part of my reluctance to embrace the short story is because I don't want to invest in something that will be over so soon. But then when I read one I once again realize that not everything has to be lengthy and detailed. Sometimes short is just long enough. And if the stories in this book were any longer, I would...more I consider myself someone who isn't in to short stories. But then almost every time I read a book of compiled shorts, I change my mind and decide that I should read more short stories. Part of my reluctance to embrace the short story is because I don't want to invest in something that will be over so soon. But then when I read one I once again realize that not everything has to be lengthy and detailed. Sometimes short is just long enough. And if the stories in this book were any longer, I would have stopped reading.

Everything I Need to Know got irritatingly repetitive toward the end.

A bunch of essays on how this or that Judy Blume book impacted this or that female writer who came of age in the 1970 - 80's. Most of the authors are of the chick-lit genre - which I have no pretentious problem with or anything - except that the majority of it seems *to me* to be highly unoriginal. It's like the same book over and over with a slight change in the details. I felt like there was meant to be some sort of "confessional" tone to the book that just failed miserably.

Their was one story that really stood out - not just the best story in a tedious book of stories - but a really funny and sincere 9 pager that made me thankful I had stuck with it. Written by Jennifer Coburn (who?), Guilty House focuses on the lesser known Blume book Iggie's House (I was so tired of having the Margaret and the Forever and the Deenie deconstructed and compared by the time I had read the first quarter. And those are books sacred text!) which explores the subject of White Guilt. The First Black Family to Move to Town! There Goes the Neighborhood! I don't think a lot of people have written about how white people try so hard to seem so down with the brothers and sisters. I wish I had written this.

I do love Judy Blume though. I even have a dog named Judy Blume (who refuses to shit outside, by the way. thanks, Jodi).

I might re-read some my old Judy Blume favorites to see what I think of them now . . .
(less)

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Jan 13, 2010 Marissa Pineda rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Current popular authors weigh in on how Judy Blume's teen novels affected them in their pubescent years. I admit, I'm not a fan of Judy Blume, but I read a couple of her books as a kid and was, dare I say, titillated by the taboo subjects she covered. I wanted to see what these authors had to say. Mostly, they ruminate on how awful their teen years were and how they can relate to various JB characters. I have always been in favor of being open and honest with girls about their bodies, their feel...more

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Jun 03, 2012 Angela Risner rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ahhh, Judy Blume. I read a lot of her books as an adolescent. I didn't realize until now that a lot of what I read was written before I was born! her books have a timeless feeling to them that don't limit themselves to a certain time in history.

I'll admit, I didn't understand all of the undertones that occurred in the books. I was either too young or simply didn't have that particular issue and therefore, didn't see myself in the book. However, reading this book of essays on Judy Blume's writing...more

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May 10, 2009 Sara Liebman rated it 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book of essays different female writers compiled about their experiences reading different Judy Blume books growing up. However, most of the essays revolved around books I hadn't read such as Deenie, Then Again, Maybe I Won't and Starring Sally J. Freedman as herself. Of course, I went looking for them right after I finished the book.

The book made me want to write my own essay but it would be about the book Summer Sisters, one of Ms. Blume's adult books.

The book also brought back...more

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Apr 11, 2009 Cindy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Divorce, moving, friends, boys... the topics of a Judy Blume novel are no different that most aimed at the tween/teen market, but her influence is undeniable. If you grew up reading her stuff, you'll probably like this compact collection of essays. There's one in particular that stood out for me - one from a mother's perspective. That some day down the road, when I re-read her books, that I'll identify not with Deenie, Margaret, Sheila, but with their mothers freaks me out a bit, I'm not gonna l...more

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Jul 24, 2009 Candace rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: chick-lit, non-fiction, 2009-first-time-reads

I think I'm one of the few girls/women out there that hasn't read every single one of Judy Blume's books. In fact, there are only three that I KNOW I've read. Tales of a Fourth-Grade Nothing, Superfudge, & Just As Long As We're Together. My sister was more the Judy Blume reader than I was.

That being said, I'm not really sure what made me decide to read the collection of essays that is Everything I Needed to Know about Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume. Curiosity? Maybe. Boredom? Its po...more

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Jul 30, 2010 Donna Lyn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

more appropriately titled 'everything i needed to know about sex i learned from judy blume' since the majority of essays were about that. however, it was interesting to see what the books said to them as a girl adn then re-reading them as an adult hearing catching different characters and storylines they completely missed from a child's perspective. it was also interesting to see the different writing styles in the essays of so many authors. each essay included a short bio so now i have a whole...more

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Jan 22, 2010 Peacegal rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Believe it or not, there was once a time when the adult world was mysterious, and the transition to adolescence was full of confusion. Young girls actually once looked to books to calm their fears, and most of the time these books were by Judy Bloom.

It seems that virtually every female who came of age in the pre-Internet era has a Judy Bloom story. I can remember feeling as if I needed to sneak to read Are You There, God, it’s Me, Margaret, and read it I did, albeit with a healthy dose of guilt....more

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Feb 02, 2010 Cwelshhans rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really enjoyed this book, and I really wish that goodreads had 1/2 stars, because I actually would probably put it between a 3 and a 4. The essays are thoughtful, moving, and really convey how special Judy Blume is as an author. The authors discuss lessons they learned at the time, lessons they learned without realizing it, and lessons they learned as adults upon re-reading Judy Blume books. A very nice trip down nostalgia lane and nice to think that all of that time spent reading and re-readi...more

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Jan 15, 2010 Heather rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I always knew that reading books by Judy Blume helped me make it through the perils of childhood and my tween and early-teen years. It was such a ... comfort to me to find out that I wasn't the only one. These other women eloquently stated what Judy and her books had meant to all of them throughout their lives in ways that literally made me laugh out loud, and weep with recognition. I loved this book, and believe that any "girl" who ever enjoyed even one Judy Blume book in her day would get a lo...more

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About Jennifer O'Connell

Published teen fiction under the name Jenny O'Connell.

Although she's written about a reality dating show, a prescient pastry chef, and a woman who inspired an 80's rock hit, Jennifer has not spent hours dissecting The Bachelor, she can barely follow the directions on the back of a Betty Crocker box, and she can only dream of a long-haired, guitar-thrashing rocker even giving her a second glance.

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Quotes from Everything I Needed to...

“As I look back over the other best friendships I've had that also ended, I wonder if, in addition to simply having a finite amount of time for such intimacy, we also have certain periods in our lives in which we seek out people who seem to embody the things we lack. Then, when we gain those things for ourselves, we no longer need that friend in the same way, which causes a serious dissonance in the relationship. Perhaps this is why these particular friendships burn so bright and then disappear so completely.” — 10 people liked it

“The first thing I learned from Judy Blume was that God is the wrong one to ask for bigger breasts. (Stephanie Lessing)” — 7 people liked it

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