It’s been years since I read a Judy Blume novel, but her characters still seem to live inside my head. I’m not alone in that, as I realized after watching Judy Blume Forever, an Amazon Prime documentary, premiering April 21, that chronicles this groundbreaking author’s life, work, and legacy. Her novels were many children’s primary source of information on everything from bras and breasts to family strife and friendship woes. Published in 1970, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. was one of the few children’s books of its era to speak frankly on menstruation, while Deenie (1973) broke barriers by discussing female masturbation. Although Blume encountered opposition from censors who deemed her books inappropriate—she recalls a day when she received several hundred death threats—she refused to back down; being honest with her readers was paramount.

The slew of adoring fan letters featured in the film is a testament to her empathy, sensitivity, and awareness of how children see the world. Blume wrote back to many of her readers, forging enduring bonds with some. She attended the college graduation of Lorrie Kim, with whom she had corresponded for years. Blume was the first person in whom Karen Chilstrom confided her childhood sexual abuse. Judy Blume Forever gets to the heart of why children’s literature matters: These aren’t merely stories; they’re lifelines, reminders that no matter how adrift we may feel, we’re never alone.

Interviews with young people illustrate that Blume’s books still resonate, though details like rotary phones or mothers who don’t work outside the home feel dated today. And, as interviews with authors Alex Gino, Jacqueline Woodson, and Mary H.K. Choi demonstrate, Blume has passed on the torch to a new generation of writers. (See our booklist for examples of recent middle-grade and YA novels that embody the spirit of Judy Blume's work.)

When it comes to the subjects of puberty and changing bodies, I’m happy to note that many middle-grade authors have taken up Blume’s mantle; due in no small part to her efforts, discussing menstruation is no longer as taboo as it once was. I especially love Calling the Moon: 16 Period Stories From BIPOC Authors (Candlewick, March 28), edited by Aida Salazar and Yamile Saied Méndez. Salazar says in an editor’s note that her 2019 book, The Moon Within, was the first middle-grade novel since Margaret to focus on menstruation, and it was the first by an author of color to do so—a fact that galvanized her to create this anthology. One of my favorite stories is Guadalupe García McCall’s “Ofrendas,” in which a Latine teen whose mother has just died wonders how she’ll be able to afford to buy pads and whether to ask her father for help. McCall deftly explores how menstruation and socioeconomic status often intersect—an issue I never saw in Blume’s books, which reflected the author’s suburban middle-class upbringing. Though Margaret fretted about being the last in her group of friends to start her period, she never had to worry about affording pads (or, if you read the original version, the dreaded sanitary belt).

Similarly, Joy McCullough’s Code Red (Atheneum, June 13) addresses period inequality. Eden, a wealthy White teen whose mother founded a company that creates menstrual products, becomes keenly aware of her own privilege after befriending Maribel, a Latine girl whose mother manages a food pantry, and Maribel’s socially conscious friends. McCullough’s absorbing narrative deftly conveys Eden’s awakening as she seeks a way to make period products available to all who need them.

In the documentary, Blume recalls putting down an encyclopedia with disgust after reading an entry on sex that told her nothing she wanted to know. She would have devoured Allison K. Rodgers’ We Need To Talk About Vaginas: An Important Book About Vulvas, Periods, Puberty, and Sex! (Neon Squid, Macmillan, Feb. 28), illustrated by Annika Le Large. An OB/GYN, Rodgers matter-of-factly and reassuringly discusses everything from the color of menstrual blood to body hair to intercourse.

More than 50 years after Margaret, we’ve come a long way. But I don’t think we’d be here, opening the door for middle graders to have even richer, more nuanced conversations around menstruation and bodies, if not for Blume. Her stories may be rooted in a particular time and place, yet somehow they transcend setting. As author Jason Reynolds says in the film, “I don’t think that Judy Blume wrote her books to be timeless. I think she wrote her books to be timely. And they were so timely that they became timeless.”

Mahnaz Dar is a young readers’ editor.