The NEH seems to have made a good pick in L'Engle, but the NEH and the NEA shouldn't exist. Art is not a legitimate government function.
She wrote many other books that had no sexual connotations whatsoever. The first book I ever remembering picking out on my own and reading completely on my own in first grade was Freckle Juice which was one of hers.
I remember reading some of Judy Blume's books. "Blubber" is the one I remember the most clearly. I fail to see what the sexual stuff was in her books. I guess I would have to read them again to be certain.
I adore L'Engle's books to this day. They are well written and incredibly interesting. I re-read Wrinkle in Time and the rest of the books in that particular series every few years.
I read exactly one Judy Blume book, as a teenager, I believe. I don't remember there being anything sexual in it, but it was embarrassing - needlessly so. Bodily functions, yep. For example, I remember a boy urinating into a potted plant because a parent or sibling was taking too much time in the bathroom. Entertaining? Not in my book. Stupid? Yes. Yuck.
I never liked Blume's choppy teen titillators even when I WAS a teen. The above posting describes her books just as I remember them, even then. However, I devoured every L'Engle book I could get my hands on. This is not to say that I was any kind of literary snob at that (or any other) age, but quality is quality, and one doesn't need an English Lit degree in order to see the difference between the two authors.
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"A Wrinkle in Time" was one of my favorite childhood books. I read it over and over.
Having said that, I also read many Judy Blume books and this article is really overstating the "sexual" angle, which was really only in some later books geared toward teenagers, like "Forever". The books I read as a kid included the aforementioned "Freckle Juice", plus "Iggie's House" (about a black family moving into a white neighborhood), "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" and its sequels, "Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret" (the all-time classic about a girl growing up), "Blubber" (about an overweight girl), etc..
I seem to recall in "4th Grade Nothing", a 2-year-old swallows a full grown turtle. Whole and alive. I have never been able to reconcile that point in the book.
The "peeing in a potted plant" incident actually didn't happen. This event was chronicled in "Superfudge", where Peter's little brother, Fudge, took too long in the bathroom. He got out before Peter relieved himself on the plant. However, the reader got familiarized with the medieval practice of urinating in chamber pots. Fascinating stuff.
"Blubber" troubles me even to this very day. I can't place my finger on it, but reading it reminded me of watching an auto accident.
Judy Blume is Judy Blume. Just a preteen author who has made a name for herself. Call it junk lit if you want (and I won't strongly disagree) but I have read some teen novels that focused on larceny and violence. A book for a 14 year old boy written about his wee wee isn't a big deal.
APf
I liked both as a kid, but I think L'Engle is the much better author. Some of Blume's books (Fudge, etc) are harmless but some for older kids were a bit risque. I do remember seeking out a copy of Forever at a library that hadn't thought to ban it..and reading it out of my parents' sight.
Should this be an Xer ping? Blume was very popular in our school days, and so was L'Engle to a lesser extent.
Precisely.
I don't remember all the sex in "Fudge" and "Blubber", but then again I read them near 20 years ago so maybe they have updated versions or something. ;-)
I'm ashamed to admit that I've never read "A Wrinkle in Time," but I've read almost all of Judy Blume's books. Ms. Blume works display almost schizophrenic qualities. Her books for younger readers such as "The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo," "Superfudge," "Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great" (et al) were funny & cute and I'd have no problem letting my daughter read them.
"Are You There God, It's Me Margaret" & "Forever" deal with intense subject matter (puberty, divorce, relgion, teen sex, birth control) but they are tastefully written so that a parent could read them as well and discuss the subject matter with their teens. But her adult works are simply "trashy" (ie something one would expect from Jackie Collins, not a writer of children's books). "Wifey" left a particularly bad taste in my mouth. It concerns a suburbanite housewife & mother who "finds herself" by having affairs (one with a highschool paramour, & the other with her sister's husband!) The heroine displays no remorse & is prevented from breaking up her marriage only because her boyfriend has no intention of leaving his wife.
That statement is rather misleading since the NEA isn't a government entity, but rather a private organization.
When I was a young boy, I used to think that Freckle Juice was the coolest book.
Blume is a talented writer for children (and not just little girls), and she deserves her awards. Somebody is definately overanalyzing Blume's career to fit their own agenda (which happens too much nowadays), and I don't like it one damn bit.
SuperFudge and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, which were her more popular stuff, had little to do with the 'lessons' of her other books. And considering its subject matter, I think her writing is just as good as L'Engle's. It's just not 'arty' enough to please the author.