I read Judy Blume books just like all the other girls did, but I read them because all the girls did, not because she was a favorite writer. Still, those rites of passage, “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret” and “Forever” were significant milestones in my reading life. Now almost 70, Blume has been feeling the creative urge again and she has a new book out “Soupy Saturdays With the Pain & the Great One” and is on her first national tour in ten years. Booksellers are hopeful that her new book will spur sales in her back catalog, though her old books still sell quite well anyway. Blume started writing in the 1970s as a creative outlet, and a release from her boredom as a suburban housewife and mother. She says “writing changed my life and saved my life.” (Judy Blume’s weblog)