My hero, Judy Blume

Planned Parenthood recently sent around emails with a message from Judy Blume. Yesterdaay they sent another message stating that she'd gotten a lot of hate mail as a response, and asking us to stand up for Judy Blume.

Of course, I sent an email right away using the message form. I'm a huge fan of Judy Blume; in fact, I'd have to say that she's both a personal and a professional hero of mine. Young adult is the genre I'd like to write fiction for, and I often tell friends that if I have half as many books banned or challenged as she has, I'll be the happiest writer in the world!

Here's how serious I am about Judy Blume being my hero:



That's from 2004, when she was selected as one of Glamour's Women of the Year. It's been on my fridge ever since — right next to the Peanuts strip where Snoopy is hiding in the mailbox while he waits to hear from his agent.