Judy Blume, Forever

Leah Phillips (University of Warwick)

Ed. by Dimitra Fimi, University of Glasgow
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1975

Places

United States (Publication/ performance)

Genres and Modes

Children's Literature
- Young Adult

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

Addressing the complexities of growing up, Judy Blume’s books for young people — especially

Forever

(1975) in its depiction of adolescent sexual awakening — have guided countless teenagers through the delights and trials of adolescence, the years between childhood and adulthood. Blume’s earlier

Deenie

(1973) deals with adolescent body image, and her iconic Are

You There God? It’s Me, Margaret

(1970) with puberty, particularly menarche.

Forever

, however, takes adolescence to the cusp of adulthood by addressing sex, a subject many adults would prefer to keep from children. Thus, while the novel’s premise, boy meets girl, is quite simple, the novel’s approach to adolescent sexuality is, still, revolutionary, especially in its specific concern with female sexual awakening.

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

2299 words

Citation: Phillips, Leah. "Forever". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 July 2018 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38832, accessed 23 April 2024.]

Save this article