JUDY BLUME FOREVER: 2023 (Included in Prime Video) The radical honesty of the books by trailblazing author Judy Blume changed the way millions of adolescent readers understood themselves, their sexuality, and what it meant to grow up, but also led to critical battles against book banning and censorship. Blume has been an activist against the banning of books in the United States. In the 1980s, when her books started facing censorship and controversy, she began reaching out to other writers, as well as teachers and librarians, to join the fight against censorship. This led Blume to join the National Coalition Against Censorship which aims to protect the freedom to read. In 1975, Blume published the now frequently banned novel Forever, which was groundbreaking in young adult literature as the first novel to display teen sex as normal. Blume explained that she was inspired to write this novel when her daughter, 13 years old at the time, said she wanted to read a book where the characters have sex but do not die afterward. These novels tackled complex subjects such as family conflict, bullying, body image, and sexuality. Blume has expressed that she writes about these subjects, particularly sexuality, because it is what she believes children need to know about and was what she wondered about as a child. Judy Blume Forever is an enjoyable and enlightening look at the award-winning author. One critic on RT said, “Pardo and Wolchok were able to fully capture Judy by letting her tell her own story in her own way. It’s a learning experience for us all.” One of the most heartfelt moments concerns her writing back to the many kids who wrote saying, “You’re book changed my life!” (Some months she got over 2,000 letters from children who loved the honesty of her books.) When one of her longstanding pen pals told Blume that her parents were in crisis and would not be making it to her college graduation, at Bryn Mawr, Blume showed up–-for a girl she had never met in the flesh. She was never condescending and had, in the words of Lauren Mechling of the Guardian, “uncanny respect for the young people they’re meant for.” Gary and I loved the documentary. When it was over, I asked Gary what grade he would give the film, and he said, “An A++.” GRADE A+