Reading. Listening. Watching

And JUDY BLUME!!!!

Hi All,

Whew. This has been a week of fun and so much busy-ness in the best possible way. There were many highlights but given my audience here, I have to focus on one- JUDY BLUME!! One of my birthday presents was a night at the 92nd Street Y with two dear friends. The evening began with a discussion between Judy Blume and Kelly Fremon Craig, director of Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret. and an advanced screening of the movie.

I took notes because I wanted to be sure to remember every single moment of the wonderful-ness so I could share! So.. here goes!

• As soon as Judy walked on stage, she received a standing ovation. What a way to start a presentation. My mom told me later in the week that she saw Judy in a television interview saying that she gets really nervous speaking in front of crowds. I am so glad that her night with us started so warmly!

• It became so clear that Judy and Kelly have formed an amazing friendship- they were nearly completing each other’s sentences! Judy also said that she waited 53 years for the right team to come forward for a Margaret movie so it makes sense that she found someone so lovely to bring Margaret to life.

• Judy said that if you liked the book you will love the movie and I agree! She said the main difference is that in the book you really only hear Margaret’s voice but in the movie the adults are given a real life.

• Kelly said her goal from the start was to create a movie that would make others feel the way the book made her feel. And I re-read Margaret over the weekend and I have to say, she fully accomplished this for me. I have never seen a movie stay so true to the book in both tone and story- it’s an amazing accomplishment.

• Kelly said that it’s the book’s honesty that allows it to transcend time.

• The movie was cast before Covid and it took ages to find the ‘right’ Margaret but when Abby Ryder Fortson walked in the room they just knew it was her. And then… filming shut down and they were all so nervous that Abby would go through puberty before they could film the movie and she did!

• When I was telling my mother in law about the discussion, she pointed me toward a New York Times feature that describes some of my favorite parts of what I learned from the discussion. Click here to read it. I particularly love the way this writer describes how filming worked around Abby’s changes and how the famous ‘we must increase our bust’ scenes were choreographed.

• Judy and her husband George have a cameo in the movie! She didn’t want to tell us where they appear so I won’t tell you, but be on the lookout- they are adorable!

• As an author whose books have been banned since the 80s, Judy had a lot to say on book banning. While she acknowledged that this has been happening for ages, she said that because of government involvement it is so much scarier now.

Hope you all had a great week and I look forward to hearing what you are reading, watching and listening to these days!

xo,

Stacey

---

Reading:

• Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret. by Judy Blume (print)- I highly recommend a quick re-read before watching the movie so that you can marvel at how well adapted it is!

• Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton (print)

• A Court of Thorns and Roses (switched from print to audio 1/2 way through)

Listening:

• The Ezra Klein Show (The ‘Quiet Catastrophe’ Brewing in our Social Lives)

• From the Front Porch (April Reading Recap)

• The Prestige TV Podcast (‘Succession’ Season 4, episode 5 recap)

• Sorta Awesome (What We’ve Been Learning Lately)

• The Stacks (Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude with Clint Smith)

• We Can Do Hard Things (How to Create Your Own Belonging with Michelle Zauner)

Watching:

• Judy Blume Forever- I also highly recommend watching this documentary before seeing the movie although if your time is short I would prioritize re-reading.

• Succession (Season 4, Episode 5)

• Ted Lasso (Season 3, Episode 7)

• The Diplomat (Episode 1)

---