A while ago, I interviewed Judy Blume, one of my all time favorite writers. When I was asked to interview her, I actually think my heart stopped for a second. THE Judy Blume? You mean the Judy Blume who has written my favorite books? You mean the Judy Blume who taught me everything I need to know for life? You mean THAT Judy Blume? OH YES, that Judy Blume.

I love all her books. My two favorites are Just As Long As We’re Together and of course, Forever. I was soooo nervous going into this interview. I did a little research before I met her so I didn’t go into it completely blind (except for knowing every single book she has ever written). Finally, the morning arrived and I nearly had a heart attack. When I got there, we were waiting for her, and suddenly we see this woman. Woah! Is that Judy Blume? She looks so young… and fabulous!

When we first sat down and started talking, I got the strangest feeling – not that I was talking to a person much older than me but a person nearly my age. She seemed to understand everything. I learned some of the most interesting things; she talked about how nearly every day, at any chance she gets, she turns off her phone. I know a lot of people would probably die if they didn’t have their phone. But when I asked about social networking sites she said she has no problem with them.

After talking about media, we started talking about the writing process and she told us that she “hates every minute of it and always have but [she] must love it”. I nearly had a heart attack. Then she starts talking about how she loves to create characters and make things up but hates the whole putting it on paper/first draft part of it. She says the first drafts are always the hardest and barely make sense but slowly the whole book comes together after a ton of drafts. The writing process sounds so difficult but some pretty amazing books came out of it!  Judy Blume is such an amazing writer that she can write books in the ’70s, like Are You There God? It’s Me, Margret and they can still be fully relevant to preteens and teens today!

Here are some of the books I suggest if you haven’t already read them!

Deenie: A book about a beautiful girl who is diagnosed with Scoliosis. Her mother is having a difficult time accepting that her daughter, an aspiring model, put in such a hard situation. I would recommend this to people who like short reads, that have a great story.

Just As Long As We Are Together (my favorite): A book about Stephanie Hirsch, who has many changes going on in her life. She meets a new girl and they instantly click, but that sparks issues with her other best friend (Rachel Robinson, who has her own book, Here’s To You, Rachel Robinson) and she is also having a hard time dealing with the fact that her parents are separating. I would definitely recommend this to anyone. ANYONE.

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret: A book about a girl going through the typical pre-teen/teenage issues. Getting her first period, buying bras and body issues. I would recommend this to young girls and pre-teens.

Forever…: This is a book about Katherine, AKA ‘Kath’, a girl who falls in love for the first time with Michael. They instantly connect at a new years party and become inseparable after that. I would recommend this to anyone who loves romances and love stories!

Thank you so much, Judy, for an amazing lunch and some of my favorite books of all time!

HI! I am Joanne and I LOVE the color pink! I absolutely love my friends. If you ever see me it is probably at the mall or the beach :) You can follow me on Twitter @helloitsjoanne
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