Although I’m a fan of Judy Blume books that tackle delicate issues in a sensitive and sensible way – Blubber, Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing – her story about a teenager trying to cope with the violent death of her father – Tiger Eyes – had escaped me. Melena Ryzik’s article in the New York Times – A Mother’s Book Is Her Son’s Movie – motivated me to find and read the book.
After Davey’s father is robbed and murdered in his small convenience store in Atlantic City, she relocates with her mother and younger brother to Los Alamos, New Mexico to live with her aunt and uncle, a physicist at the famous government laboratory. As Davey tries to reconcile the violence that took her father, who refused to use bullets in his own gun, she recoils at the protectiveness in her new surroundings: bomb shelters, bike helmets, loaded shotguns in the car. But the book is not about violence; it is about fears and coping with a sudden tragic loss. With typical Judy Blume panache, the characters face the issues, learn from each other, and move on.
Having a friend who spent years living and working in Los Alamos, I am anxious to ask about the inside information Blume inserts: Is Bathtub Row really the name of the elite housing? Are there churches on every corner? Did you know any “Casuals” at the Lab? Blume lived in Los Alamos for two years and has a good memory at 75.
The movie version promises to stay true to the book, with Blume as screenwriter and producer, in collaboration with her son. An added bonus will be the beautiful dramatic setting of New Mexico. Are you a Judy Blume fan?
The No Charge Book Bunch 
I loved this book as a kid and didn’t realize there was to be a movie. Hooray!
Not sure where it is now, but the article claims it is out there. Let me know if you find it; I’d like to see it too.
Haven’t read her since my kids were reading her. My favorite author, though for a much younger age, was Beverly Cleary!
Who could forget Ramona! Cleary is now 97; I wrote about her on her birthday 2 years ago
I have not read Tiger Eyes but did meet Judy Blume when she went door to door on our block looking for her missing cat (cats left outside at night typically ended up as coyote food). Bathtub Row was real and undoubtedly prestigious back in the day; today most people live in the newer areas (as did Judy and I) where the views are incredible and the houses look like any nice suburb. Yes, there are quite a few churches. I don’t remember bomb shelters but it seems plausible given their popularity in the 1950’s and the lab’s work. “Casuals” were those employees who worked less than full time. Los Alamos is an easy target (literally and figuratively) and Judy, for her relatively short and unhappy stay there, has certainly gotten her mileage out of it.
Thanks for your “insider” perspective.
Absolutely! What I love is that her books are good for many ages, depending on the title. My son loved her Fudge series the most, we must have read and then listened to those audio books fifty or more times over a span of about three years. As a girl, Are you there God it’s me Margaret was of course a milestone. In looking her up, I see a number of middle years books that I never read.
Have you read any of her adult books? I remember enjoying Summer Sisters.
If I did it was a long time ago. I don’t always remember authors, only when I pick up a book and start reading do I remember if I’ve read the book before. But I’ll have to look at them and see.
I know what you mean. Many times I’ve been halfway through a book before realizing I’d read it before.