Judy Blume

Blume wrote “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” in 1970, openly discussing menstruation, puberty, and religious confusion. Schools banned it. Kids loved it. She wrote about divorce (“It’s Not the End of the World”), masturbation (“Then Again, Maybe I Won’t”), and sex (“Forever”). She trusted children to handle honest conversations about their changing bodies and emotions. Generations of kids learned about sex from Blume’s books because schools and parents wouldn’t talk about it. She sold 90 million copies by refusing to sanitize adolescence, treating young readers as intelligent people deserving honest answers.