Tell us your favourite Judy Blume moment to win Judy's back catalogue and her brand new book

[EmilyMumsnet]

Is there a teen author more beloved than Judy Blume? With more than 75 million books sold in twenty-eight languages, Judy still receives thousands of letters every month from readers of all ages who share their feelings and concerns with her. And this year Blume fans everywhere can rejoice once more - In the Unlikely Event, Judy’s first novel for adults in over fifteen years, is out now.

Did Judy's books guide you through your turbulent teen years? We want to know what your all-time favourite Judy Blume moment is.
Two lucky contributors will win a signed copy of In The Unlikely Event plus signed copies of 4 classic Judy Blume novels, while 2 runners up will also receive the book, as well as copies of Forever, her most loved novel.

You can also take a trip down memory lane, and read our article on the top five reasons why Judy is a Mumsnet heroine.

This competition is now closed. Winners will be contacted shortly

The bit where Fudge eats Peter's pet turtle and everyone is so worried about Fudge that nobody notices how upset Peter is. As the older sibling, that rang very true.

I also remember when the family moved to Princeton for a year and Peter is very confused by the taps, because there were separate hot and cold ones and you had to mix the water in the basin. I was very confused by that, because in England in the 1980s I had never seen a mixer tap!

My all time favourite is 'staring sally g freeman as herself' which I purchased at a boot fair when I was eight..... I can't explain how much this book meant to me in a time of real turmoil (mentally ill parent) and I loved reading about her having to move and the relationship with her grandma and the infamous grape jelly. Ooooh and the jelly fish sting and hitler living there.
It was a tattered copy and sally had a red dress. I still have it now :)

Just remembered another part of Forever that reassured me as a teenager. Remember when the friend gets pregnant, was her name Erica ? When my friend's sister had a baby really young, iirc she was 16/17, it was really shocking to us at 12 but I clearly remember thinking 'this can happen to anyone because July Blume writes about it.' It was very reassuring at a time when the situation was the first real life drama at school we'd experienced.

Judy made everything seem ok, that was the whole point of her books I think, reassuring kids everywhere that whatever they were experience there was always someone else who was experiencing similar

This thread has made me really emotional I think it's bought back happy memories of being young.

I remember reading them all when I was young but a memory that has stuck with me is of the boys finally managing to snatch a copy of Forever, taking it into the boys toilets and trying to figure out what all the fuss was about. They never did understand why we really liked the book they were only interested in one little bit.

I just had a look at some of the books I've saved from growing up.

I'm going to have to find It's Not The End Of The World and Tiger Eyes again now. I loved Karen, and felt sorry for her being in the middle and nobody's favourite, when she was obviously the best one because Jeff was a boy and Amy was annoying. And when her teacher was really nice before she got married but now she's a witch.

Staring Sally J Freeman as herself: brought home to me that wars were real, didn't just impact soldiers and the ramifications lasted for years afterwards. It was the story that encouraged me to explore history and ultimately led to my choosing a history degree. Thank you Judy!

Reading this thread has reminded me of all these good books, so many to chose from!

My favourite though has to be Just as Long as we're Together, as it's the first one I ever read and totally got me hooked on all her books! I loved her writing style and relatable subjects she wrote about, plus the characters were usually likeable. Have read Summer Sisters as an adult which was also good.

Tiger Eyes was my favourite, although I read and really enjoyed all of them. I still have my copies of a couple of them and they are now in my teenage daughters book shelf.

Tiger Eyes

I loved that line about 'raising babies, fat and happy on a rock' or whatever it was. So incredibly impractical but I got the sentiment.

Tiger Eyes. La vida es una buena aventura. What Wolf says to Davey as she comes to terms with her father's death.

This phrase stuck with me since I read it back in the 80's, and I still repeat it to myself now, especially when events take a turn for the worse, or the unexpected, or I am about to do something that scares me.

I think Judy Bloom books got every girl through their teenage years in the 80's! I can remember being 13 and Forever being passed round the girls in class, I think I was about 6th on the list so by the time it got to me, it automatically fell open on the bits about Ralph!
Lace, Lace 2 and then the Jilly Cooper books were passed round as we got older. Probably nowhere near as shocking now as they were then. Innocent times!

My goodness, this thread makes me want to read them all again! I loved Judy Blume and was thrilled when I discovered she wrote adult books too. I really liked Tiger Eyes but I think Just as Long as We're Together was my favourite, it really helped when I fell out with a friend. I remember there was a book called Letters to Judy as well with a selection of letters she'd received from readers. Really wish I'd kept them all now, the only one I've got now is Summer Sisters. Would so love to win the back catalogue!

I still have all of Judy's books but just wanted to join in with the Judy love-in :)

My favourite is starring Sally j freedman as herself, closely followed by the fudge books. I read them with DS and had forgotten just how funny they are, such an accurate depiction of life with young children (although makes you wish for 1970's New York...

I was lucky enough to meet Judy at a recent book signing and she was just as lovely as expected. It was a real thrill to meet one of my role models in real life.

Her new book is great I would highly recommend it.

I loved Judy Blume - I learned so much from her books: periods, sex, friendships. I would struggle to choose one stand-out moment but maybe the point in Blubber when Jill stops the trial Wendy is running for Linda. I remember vividly being pleased and scared that Jill had dared do that - pleased because I hated seeing her as bullying, scared because I was a run with the pack sort of kid and hated drawing attention to myself.

I also loved Sally J's descriptions of people, and the sister dynamic in Deenie, and Margaret realizing Nancy had lied about her periods (the exact same thing happened in my friendship group).

We all passed round a copy of Forever - my parents never censored books though they were strict otherwise. I found Forever hugely enlightening but it hasn't stuck in my memory in the same detail as the others; I may have been older when I read it.

Deenie - as I was diagnosed with scoliosis at 9, this really resonated with me and helped my friends to understand it too. And blubber. And are you there god, it's me margaret - THE book to read for me and my pre teen friends. In fact, it's where all my information about periods and bras came from.

"I must, I must, I must improve my bust!!"

That's it. I'm off to the library to take all these books out and spend a few days curled up in nostalgia!!

I was the only person in my class to own a copy of Forever and I think I lent it to everyone in the class in about year 8. Learned so much from her books but what really stood out for me was being exposed to American culture and the fact characters we're from different religions to mine at the time. I think there was a lot about religion in aytgimm and I found thathis fascinating.

I also kickstarted my love affair with all things American. I loved the grade system at school, the fact they could wear their own clothes, they seemed so much more grown up than me.

I read and loved all the judy Blume books growing up.

My favourite that has stayed with me was "otherwise known as Sheila the great" as it inspired me to want to go to an American summer camp.

I loved forever too, wish I'd taken more notice of the relationship tips though I might have suffered less mental and emotional anguish as a teenager!

Not that I'm expecting to win, but, you never know..., when will the winners be announced? Because I really want to read the new book and if I haven't won I'll get myself onto Amazon pronto!

I loved all of them and they define my childhood in the 1980s.

Then Again, Maybe I Won't is the one that really stands out. As an only child I was absolutely clueless about boys and it led to some 'interesting' conversations with my mum and dad about what a wet dream was.

Ahhhh, fab memories. I might have to dig them out of the loft.