Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume » (Bargain)

Jennifer O'Connell received her BA from Smith College and her MBA from the University of Chicago. She is the author of Insider Dating, Bachelorette #1, Dress Rehearsal, Off the Record, and Plan B. Visit her website at www.jenniferoconnell.com.

Meg Cabot is the author of the #1 New York Times best-sellers All-American Girl and The Princess Diaries series, two of which have been made into major motion pictures by Disney. Meg is also the author of The Mediator series, the Airhead series, and many books for adults. She currently divides her time between Key West and New York City with her husband and one-eyed cat, Henrietta.

Beth Kendrick won the Romance Writers of America's Golden Heart Award for My Favorite Mistake. She has a Ph.D. in psychology and an unshakable devotion to the Chicago Cubs. After surviving too many Minnesota winters, she moved to Arizona, where she is working on her second novel (coming soon from Downtown Press). For more information you can visit the author's website at www.bethkendrick.com.

JULIE KENNER begins a new series for Downtown Press with The Givenchy Code. Her novel Aphrodite?s Kiss was a USA Today bestseller; her other acclaimed novels include Nobody But You and The Spy Who Loves Me. She lives in Georgetown, Texas, with her husband and daughter.

Cara Lockwood is also the author of I Do (But I Don't), which was made into a Lifetime movie, as well as Pink Slip Party and Dixieland Sushi, and Every Demon Has His Day, all available from Downtown Press. She was born in Dallas, Texas, and earned a Bachelor's degree in English from the University of Pennsylvania. She has worked as a journalist in Austin, and is now married and living in Chicago. Her husband is not a rock star, but he does play the guitar -- poorly.

Laura Caldwell, a former civil litigator, is a Scholar in Residence at Loyola Law School where she is also an award-winning law professor. Caldwell's first book, Burning the Map, was selected by Barnes & Noble.com as one of The Best of 2002. Following that, A Clean Slate received a starred review from Booklist. Caldwell began publishing thrillers and suspense novels in 2005. Both her debut mystery, Look Closely, and The Rome Affair, the novel that pulled her into the Mosley case, received critical acclaim. Laura's newest, an international thriller called The Good Liar, has been heralded as "a massive achievement." She is published in ten languages and over twenty countries.

Before beginning her writing career, Laura was a trial attorney, specializing in medical malpractice defense and entertainment law. She is published in the legal field and is currently an Adjunct Professor of Law at her alma mater, Loyola University Chicago, where she teaches litigation writing and international criminal law. Laura is also freelance magazine writer and has contributed to several anthologies.

Melissa Senate is the author of eight novels, including the bestselling See Jane Date, which was made into an ABC Family TV movie and has sold over 200,000 copies worldwide. She's published short pieces in Everything I've Always Wanted to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume, It's a Wonderful Lie, Flirting with Pride and Prejudice, and American Girls About Town. A former romance and young adult editor from New York, she now lives on the southern coast of Maine with her son.

"I wonder if Judy Blume really knows how many girls' lives she affected. I wonder if she knows that at least one of her books made a grown woman finally feel like she'd been a normal girl all along. . . ."
-- from Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume

Whether laughing to tears reading Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great or clamoring for more unmistakable "me too!" moments in Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, girls all over the world have been touched by Judy Blume's poignant coming-of-age stories. Now, in this anthology of essays, twenty-four notable female authors write straight from the heart about the unforgettable novels that left an indelible mark on their childhoods and still influence them today. After growing up from Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing into Smart Women, these writers pay tribute, through their reflections and most cherished memories, to one of the most beloved authors of all time.

Publishers Weekly

This collection of 24 essays edited by O'Connell (Plan B) pays tribute to the influence of Judy Blume and her work about coming-of-age as a girl in America. In each piece, the writer reveals what O'Connell calls her "Judy Blume moment," telling a heartfelt and revealing story that reflects the same social awkwardness and true-to-life experiences Blume conveys in her novels, from menstruation to childhood bullying to masturbation. In "Cry, Linda, Cry," Meg Cabot recalls how Blume's book Blubbertaught her how to laugh at herself, while also giving her the courage to stand up to schoolgirl bullies. Likewise, Stephanie Lessing, in "The One That Got Away," reflects on Blume's It's Not the End of the World, explaining the solace she found in its understanding of what it's like when parents divorce. Readers who similarly found solace and support in Blume's work should relate easily to these writers through the Blumian characters and themes they evoke. Writing in the spirit of Blume, these women present their experiences as a series of personal truths: "girl moments. Woman moments, Human moments." (June)

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Then. Now. Forever...   Megan McCafferty     1
We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Programming for a Judy Blume Moment   Jennifer O'Connell     16
The One That Got Away   Stephanie Lessing     26
Boys Like Shiny Things   Laura Ruby     36
A Long Time Ago, We Used to Be Friends   Megan Crane     50
Cry, Linda, Cry   Meg Cabot     65
The M Word   Lara M. Zeises     78
Do Adults Really Do That? Does Judy Blume Really Do That?   Laura Caldwell     86
I Am   Erica Orloff     95
Forever...Again   Stacey Ballis     101
Then Again, Maybe I...   Melissa Senate     113
Vitamin K, Judy Blume, and the Great Big Bruise   Julie Kenner     124
It Wasn't the End of the World   Kristin Harmel     136
Freaks, Geeks, and Adolescent Revenge Fantasies   Shanna Swendson     147
Guilty's House   Jennifer Coburn     159
A Different Kind of Diary   Elise Juska     168
Are You Available God? My Family Needs Counseling   Kyra Davis     187
The Mother of All Balancing Acts   BethKendrick     199
The Wienie Girl's Guide to Making Friends   Berta Platas     207
Brave New Kid   Diana Feterfreund     218
Breaking Up Is Hard to Do-Especially with Your BFF   Lynda Curnyn     230
The Importance of ABC's   Kayla Perrin     241
Superfudged   Cara Lockwood     254
Are You There, Margaret?   Alison Pace     266