Happy Birthday, Judy Blume

Judy Blume--the woman who made sense of the impossible weirdness of adolescence for millions of American girls—is 71 today.

From Blubber:

I heard a toilet flush, then Linda Fischer came out of a booth, pulling her red cape around her.
"Look who's here," Wendy said. "It's Blubber!"
"In the flesh," Caroline added.
"I wonder what's under her cape?" Wendy asked.
"Probably nothing," Caroline said.
"Oh, there's got to be something. There's got to be her blubber... at least."
"Yeah... her blubber's under her cape!" Caroline said and she and Wendy started laughing. I giggled a little too.
Wendy moved closer to Linda, humming "Beautiful Dreamer."
"Stay away from me!" Linda told her, walking backwards.
"I'm not going to hurt you, stupid," Wendy said. "I just want to see what's under your cape."
"Don't touch me!"
"Oh, don't worry... that's not my job... Jill's the flenser."
"That's true," I said. "I am."
"And the flenser's the one who strips the blubber," Wendy said.
I wasn't sure exactly what Wendy had in mind.

Judy Blume was the adult every girl loved, because she was the only adult who didn't lie to us. Wish her happy birthday at her (!!!) blog.