Showing results by author "Judy Blume" in All Categories

In 1987, Miri Ammerman returns to her hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey, to attend a commemoration of the worst year of her life. Thirty-five years earlier, when Miri was 15, and in love for the first time, a succession of airplanes fell from the sky, leaving a community reeling. Against this backdrop of actual events that Blume experienced in the early 1950s, when airline travel was new and exciting and everyone dreamed of going somewhere, she paints a vivid portrait of a particular time and place....

What’s the difference between a friend and a fiend? Jake is so embarrassed by a reading circle blunder, he vows never to speak in class again. Abigail believes she can no longer trust one of her best friends. Their teenage cousins have turned into fiends. And on the perfect snow day, who jumps on Jake and washes his face in snow? And who rescues him?

The Pain and the Great One are going places! In these new stories the kids are on the go - the Pain needs a trip to the emergency room; the family goes to the mall and not everyone stays together; the kids visit a county fair and want to ride the Super Slide; and a beach outing includes a boogie board. Lots more action and adventure for the dynamic duo who never stay still.

Sandy Pressman is a nice suburban wife whose boredom is getting the best of her. She could be making friends at the club, like her husband keeps encouraging her to do. Or working on her golf game. Or getting her hair done. But for some reason, these things don't interest her as much as the naked man on the motorcycle.

Blubber is a good name for her, the note from Wendy says about Linda. Jill crumples it up and leaves it on the corner of her desk. She doesn't want to think about Linda or her dumb report on the whale just now. Jill wants to think about Halloween.

How can you be best friends with someone who keeps secrets from you - important secrets? Stephanie’s best friend is Rachel. Since second grade they’ve shared everything, good and bad. Now, as they start seventh grade, Stephanie meets Alison, who has just moved to their neighborhood. Stephanie hopes all three of them can be best friends, because she really likes Alison. But is it possible to have two best friends? Or is it true that two’s company, three’s a crowd?

“That’s an interesting way to solve the problem, Tony.” Miss Tobin is talking about a math problem on the blackboard, but Tony is thinking about real problems. If his parents or his friend Joel or Joel’s 16-year-old sister, Lisa, knew what Tony was thinking about a lot of the time, they’d probably freak out. About snitching on Joel, who Tony knows is a shoplifter. About watching Lisa undress each night and liking what he sees. About money and the changes money makes in people (especially his mother).

Davey has never felt so alone in her life. Her father is dead - shot in a holdup - and now her mother is moving the family to New Mexico to try to recover. Climbing in the Los Alamos canyon, Davey meets the mysterious Wolf, who can read Davey’s “sad eyes.” Wolf is the only person who seems to understand the rage and fear Davey feels. Slowly, with Wolf’s help, Davey realizes that she must get on with her life. But when will she be ready to leave the past behind and move toward the future? Will she ever stop hurting?

Peter thinks he has the world's biggest problem – his naughty little brother, Fudge. Fudge causes trouble wherever he goes and it's usually up to Peter to sort out the mess. When Peter wins a tiny green turtle called Dribble, he's determined to keep it away from his brother. But when Fudge does get his hands on Dribble – disaster strikes!

When an eight-year-old girl and her six-year-old brother take turns describing each other, it's no surprise that "The Pain" and "The Great One" are the nicknames that emerge. As this duo debates whom Mom and Dad love most, their competition becomes increasingly humorous - because when it comes to family affection, there's no such thing as win or lose.

Second-grader Freddy Dissel has that left-out kind of feeling. Life seems lonely when you're the middle kid in the family. Freddy feels like "the peanut butter part of a sandwich", squeezed between an older brother and little sister. But now, for the first time, it's Freddy's chance to show everyone, including himself, just how special he is!

Andrew wants to be like Nicky, who has millions of freckles. So when he hears about a recipe for freckle juice, he has to try it for himself. Freckle Juice is a funny adventure for younger listeners from the author of Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret.

Mrs Fenner has very fixed ambitions for her daughters. Deenie is thirteen years old and gorgeous. Her mother wants her to be a model – but Deenie's not so sure. So when she's diagnosed with scoliosis – curvature of the spine – Deenie's almost relieved. No more traipsing round modelling agencies, no more living up to her mother's expectations. But she has to wear an ugly, uncomfortable back brace for the next four years. And she's convinced that it will put an end to normal teenage life

Mrs Fenner has very fixed ambitions for her daughters. Deenie is thirteen years old and gorgeous. Her mother wants her to be a model – but Deenie's not so sure. So when she's diagnosed with scoliosis – curvature of the spine – Deenie's almost relieved. No more traipsing round modelling agencies, no more living up to her mother's expectations. But she has to wear an ugly, uncomfortable back brace for the next four years. And she's convinced that it will put an end to normal teenage life

Davey's father has been murdered – and the aftermath is causing her family to fall apart. Davey's heartbroken mum plucks them up and takes them to stay with her prim and proper aunt in Los Alamos. She escapes the claustrophobic house by cycling up to the canyon, where she meets a mysterious older boy called Wolf: intense, brooding and also about to lose someone close to him. But falling for someone won't make her dad come back – there are no easy answers when you need to stick your broken family back together.

Meet Margaret. She's going through all the same things most teenage girls have to face; fitting in, friendship and first bras. Life isn't easy for Margaret. She's moved away from her childhood home, she's starting a new school, finding new friends – and she's convinced she's not normal. For a start she hasn't got a clue whether she wants to be Jewish like her father or Christian like her mother. Everyone else seems really sure of who they are. And, worst of all, she's a 'late developer'. She just knows that all her friends are going to need a bra before she does.

She held the baby close, feeling the warmth of his little body, kissing his soft cheek. He looked right into her eyes. Outside the window, the wing broke away from the plane. Then they were falling...falling diagonally out of the sky. When three planes crashed in Elizabeth, New Jersey, within the space of three months in the early 1950s, Newark airport was closed for a year. Each of these disasters was devastating not only for those onboard, but also for the close-knit community of people on the ground.

Peter Hatcher's little brother, Fudge, is four. And he's as monstrous as ever! When Fudge discovers that his new baby sister can't play with him, he tries to sell her. When that doesn't work, he tries giving her away. And on his first day at school he kicks his teacher and calls her Rat Face. Can his big brother help him out this time?

Sheila hates swimming. And dogs. And ghosts. And thunderstorms. She'll do anything to avoid them all – except admit that she's scared. Her new friend Mouse Ellis, yo-yo champion of Tarrytown, thinks she's chicken. But Sheila is determined to show everyone that she can be Sheila the Great.

Meet Rachel, the youngest in a family of high-achievers. She's also the cleverest. But it's not easy being super-intelligent – especially when her errant older brother insists on disturbing the peace and undermining everything she ever says or does. And her best friends seem to be falling for his charming veneer.