SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) – Rachelle Bergstein has written a book about one of America’s favorite Young Adult fiction authors, Judy Blume. It’s called “The Genius of Judy,” but it’s not a biography.
“That’s not the book I set out to write,” said Bergstein. “What I always envisioned for this book was sort of a blended biography slash cultural history that placed Judy Blume's work in the context of its time.”
Rachelle Bergstein, author of The Genius of Judy
And what a time that was. Blume wrote her first book, “The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo,” in 1969 when she was a young wife and mother in New Jersey. She had graduated from college but has said she knew her diploma was really just for show.
Her real job was one many women of that era felt compelled to do: marry and have children. While Blume enjoyed the lifestyle her husband’s career as a lawyer provided – country clubs and tennis lessons – she yearned for more.
One day she sat down at her typewriter, and the rest is literary history.
So, why have her books resonated so strongly with readers?
Comedians heading to Savannah in 2025
“There were a lot of people writing young adult books and middle-grade books around the same time as Judy, but something about her name evokes this incredible nostalgia and affection and joy in adult women," Bergstein said. "I had never read something that successfully explained to me what that was about. That was my mission for this book. I wanted to figure out why Judy has remained so important to so many people.“
Many people believe that’s because Blume’s books touched on topics that were taboo in the late 60s and early 70s: religious indifference, divorce, body autonomy and more.
“I have never read a book that covered things like puberty and the kind of friendship dynamics that I was personally experiencing with my girlfriends, issues with family and feeling unhappy with your parents," Bergstein said. "I mean, all of these things that I later found out had not been acceptable in books for children before, Judy broke those boundaries.
“My parents divorced when I was 5. I lived in households with different faiths. So, that was the first time I had seen that experience reflected in a book before,” she remembered. Her mother was friends with a woman who had older daughters, and Bergstein inherited many of their hand-me-downs. That included their books, several of which were Blume’s.
“I must have been 9 or 10 years old, and yet I remember so clearly what the covers of the books looked like and where I would read them on the floor of my room at my dad's house. 'Blubber' made my stomach hurt because it was so cruel. I remember just feeling so uncomfortable, but wanting to know what happened when I was reading it," Bergstein said. "'Superfudge' made me laugh out loud. It's the first time I remember laughing out loud to myself while reading and thinking, 'Wow, this is a weird experience, but I love it.' I have a lot of really fun Judy memories. So, yeah, they really did make an indelible impact.”
Now that Bergstein is the mother of a 9-year-old son who loves to read, does she monitor his reading material for content some deem not suitable for young readers?
“Until a year or two ago, I was reading most of his books to him," she said. "So we haven't totally crossed that bridge, but, no, we're a very open house. I believe that reading is a portal to knowledge, and it's an entryway into important conversations.”
Important conversations Judy Blume started decades ago, and ones that still impact readers of all ages today.
Bergstein will discuss her book, "The Genius of Judy" at the 2025 Savannah Book Festival on Saturday, Feb. 5, at 9 a.m. in the Jepson’s Neises Auditorium.
All Saturday author events are free and open to the public. Click or tap here for the festival schedule.