AYTG hit shelves in 1970, when Blume was 32. Over the course of an academic year, the story follows Margaret Simon, a carefree New Yorker uprooted to Farbrook, New Jersey. No longer within walking distance of her grandma (and best friend), she asks God to help her confront peer pressure and religious uncertainty.
Blume still tears up when recalling The New York Times’ praise of the book. “It was the first time that I allowed myself to think, Maybe I can do this,” she says. Female readers gained a sense of liberation, too.
“Judy Blume gave America permission to say the word ‘period,’ permission to talk about a pad,” says producer Amy Lorraine Brooks.
Landon Baxter — who plays Evan Wheeler in the film adaptation — describes Blume as “very brave” for “writing that kind of book back when it wasn’t socially accepted.” Fan mail from AYTG readers bolstered her confidence to write full-time. “I have a letter from a woman who says, ‘I had no idea what was going on, and I hid the evidence because I thought maybe I was dying and I didn’t want my mother to know. So I didn’t tell her,’” Blume says. “Imagine feeling so afraid and not knowing that your period is natural and normal and a happy thing.”
By the late 70s, Blume was receiving 200 letters per week from children alone, the impetus for her anthology Letters to Judy: What Kids Wish They Could Tell You. Her books for adults, teenagers, middle-grade readers, and elementary-schoolers have now been translated int0 39 languages, selling more than 90 million copies.
“They're universal stories that really capture the essence of being young and trying to survive in this world,” says Echo Kellum, who plays Margaret’s sixth grade teacher, Mr. Benedict. “No matter your race, color or sex, the coming of age aspects of her writing hit home.” Time magazine listed AYTG alongside The Catcher in the Rye, The House on Mango Street and To Kill a Mockingbird on “The 100 Best YA Books of All Time.” According to the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, AYTG is also among the books that adults most often attempt to remove from children’s sections. The public discourse contributed to the novel’s status as a literary touchstone.
Academy Award nominee Rachel McAdams (Spotlight) — who plays Margaret’s mother, Barbara Simon — read AYTG when she was around 12 and living in Ontario. “Girls passed it around, and it was a rite of passage to read,” she says. “It was the first book that made me feel like a lady, sophisticated and like I had arrived when it came to reading at a new level. I remember being so delighted and understood. Then a whole new world cracked open for me, especially as a woman.” For nearly a half century, Blume rejected overtures from filmmakers who wanted to adapt AYTG. Her dream collaborators arrived in late 2018 via writer-director Kelly Fremon Craig and Gracie Films, the production company founded by Oscar®-winning writer, director and producer James L. Brooks (Terms of Endearment). “Jim Brooks' vision for Gracie Films has always been to support the voices of articulate filmmakers,” says producer Richard Sakai of Gracie Films. “We all share in that aspiration.”
“Everybody feels an extra responsibility on this film, ‘cause this is arguably Judy’s legacy piece,” says James L. Brooks, “Our need to do right by her was staggering.” "The written word is as important to us as it is to Judy. We wanted to honor and represent this book. I think Judy recognized that,” says Gracie Films producer Julie Ansell.
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