You Never Forget Your First: FOREVER… by Judy Blume

Show out-of-context quotes

Perhaps my favorite section of this newsletter is the laugh-out-loud episodes, the thought-provoking episodes, and the quotes that make you want to listen to the episode. If Jeff and Rebecca were discussing the owner’s manual for a 2005 Toyota Corolla, there would probably be at least a few quotes I’d want to share. But with the material at hand this week, the citations are even richer.

• “He’s having sex with every tree in North Carolina. Anything he can get his mitts on.”
• “All you can offer your partner are these three sad, shriveled oranges!”
• “There are people who are short, and you must have empathized with that too!”
• “She’s basically Betty Draper with an English degree and a pen.”
• “Most of our lost thoughts have to do with Rebecca dealing with the passage of time in her life.”
• “If you give Juliet a summer job on the Amalfi Coast, she’ll forget all about this Romeo!”
• “Well, I’m going to give you the loudest no comment anyone has ever said to you.”

Regarding the last quote: Listen to the episode and remember me when you get to this part. Pray fervently to all beings in the sky that I did not seek to know more than necessary about the father of work.

no one has to die

One of the reasons Blume wanted to write a book like this was because forever… It’s a complaint about a book her own daughter was reading. Noting that the sexually active girls in these books always faced punishment (#RelatableContent), she asked Blume for a book in which “two nice kids could do it and no one would die.”

I read the book decades later, in the early ’80s, and its message still felt radical. Sure, we’ve come a long way since the ’70s, but it still felt like the old coach. mean girls I was in charge of all programming. It feels like how far we’ve come since then, and how much we’ve come since then, would be impossible without Judy Blume’s classics. I’m so glad her daughter asked the question. It changed the game, well, forever.

2,000 letters a month

Judy Blume had a hard time writing books for most of the ’80s, that is. In fact, she wrote a great deal during that period, but most of that time was spent responding to readers.

Fans wrote letters to Blume in droves. At one point, she was receiving more than 2,000 letters a month. The letters included readers sharing secrets, asking for advice, and thanking authors for writing books that spoke honestly to their readership. Cartons of these letters are housed in Yale University’s archives, and some of them were read aloud by Bloom (and in some cases by the letter’s authors) in a 2023 documentary film. Judy Blume forever. All of it is moving, but at the same time represents a difficult chapter in the author’s life.

Bloom had just written the book that had so deeply touched so many people, and he felt a deep responsibility to all the young readers who were now coming to him. Although she didn’t respond to all the children, she felt immense guilt for not being able to offer help to all the readers who contacted her. She eventually consulted a mental health professional to sort through those feelings and gain some distance, accepting that it wasn’t her job to save everyone. Rather, she can be a trusted adult friend and a safe figure for many generations of young readers who feel seen, heard, and respected through their work.

You can hear Blume describe this experience in her own words. fresh air The episode is covered with extra credits.

some quotes

• “Sybil Davison had a genius IQ and was cuckolded by at least six different men.”
  1. That’s a hell of a opening line.
  2. She said, “And.” and. Not “or”. and! I applaud Judy Blume.
• “For Michael and I, we didn’t say it’s different. It’s not like it’s a ’50s fad that goes steady. For us, it’s about love, real, true, honest-to-God love.”
  • Ah, to be a teenager in love! I don’t want to experience something like that again, huh.

Adaptation + Documentary Corner

Add two pieces to your watchlist today. A great adaptation and an equally great documentary about the book and Blume himself.

forever (2025)

• forever Adapted into an 8-episode series on Netflix 2025, directed by Mara Brock Akil and starring Lovie Simone and Michael Cooper Jr. It’s set in modern-day Los Angeles, features black characters, is very beautifully shot, and stays true to the spirit of the book, if not the original (see here for a breakdown of the differences between the movie and the novel).
• It has an impressive 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with numerous 5-star reviews. I love this article posted by Cristina Escobar of RogertEbert.com, co-founder of LatinaMedia.Com.
• A second season is just around the corner – here’s what we know so far.
• Do you like podcasts that delve into movies and TV? Here are two lectures.
  • This episode of Wonderies please say this podcast It’s like being suddenly thrown into a group chat hosted by “always online best friends” Hunter Harris and Peyton Dix.
  • above This episode on NPR pop culture happy hour, Aisha Harris will be joined by BA Parker. code switch Podcast and NPR producer Corey Antonio Rose joins us for a fun discussion about the series. We talk about what’s right, what’s wrong, standout style choices, and parts of the series that feel a little too real.
• Stream season 1 on Netflix here.

judy bloom forever (2023)

• this is a great documentary Celebrating the life and legacy of Judy Blume and featuring appearances from readers, writers, and other creators inspired by the pioneer’s work. They include Tayari Jones, Jason Reynolds, Molly Ringwald, Alex Gino, Jacqueline Woodson, Samantha Bee, and more.
• Available for streaming on Amazon Prime.

additional credits

Similar products etc.

• 24 seconds from now Jason Reynolds – A contemporary YA story inspired by it forever It deals with young people in sexual relationships, how they get through relationships, and being a teenager, their parents, and so on.
• Much like other Judy Blume books – If you like candor forever… And Blume’s approach to adolescence and all its trappings is the same in all her books.

Supplementary reader (and viewing)

• If you haven’t read the book or listened to this week’s episode, This TIME profile is a great introduction to: forever… It’s about And why it was (and still is) such a big deal.
• In 2023, Bloom spoke with Peabody Award-winning NPR host Terry Gross. fresh air, It’s a truly candid discussion that not only discusses Blume’s career and tremendous cultural influence, but also touches on personal matters, revealing the ups and downs of Blume’s experiences as a wife, mother, divorcee, and business owner, and all the life she lived in between. She’s very candid about the struggles behind her success, what she did wrong, and how deeply she cares about the teens her work speaks to. I think this is my favorite link in today’s roundup.
• Back in 2024, Book Riot editor Kelly Jensen said: A retrospective of Judy Blume’s classic covers. Cover art is a special interest of hers, and for good reason. The evolution of this book’s cover is particularly interesting, as the cover design hides the entire machine.
  • Insert my semi-regular “don’t let anyone tell you not to judge a book by its cover” rant here. I get that feeling, but we all do it and we know we’re doing it, so that’s where so much goes into it. Yes, goodbye.
• Speaking of Kelly, here is a link to her Interview with Jason Reynolds from last year. They talked about Reynolds’ career, his work depicting the inner lives of teenage boys, Judy Blume’s influence on his work and YA in general, and his own books. 24 seconds from now (as mentioned above)

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**Answer: Forever… is prohibited in all Public schools in Utah. All of them.