Judy Blume’s Forever… is once again headed to the small screen, Variety reports.
Netflix has ordered a series adaptation of Blume’s 1975 novel, which follows a teenage couple whose relationship is threatened when they have to spend a summer apart. A critic for Kirkus wrote of the book, “Forever... has a lot of easy, empathic verity and very little heft.”
Mara Brock Akil, known for her writing on shows including Girlfriends and The Game, will be the series showrunner; she will executive produce alongside Blume. Netflix describes the series as “an epic love story of two Black teens exploring romance and their identities through the awkward journey of being each other’s firsts.”
Forever… is one of Blume’s best-known novels and one of her most controversial. It has been the target of frequent bans, ranking No. 7 the American Library Association’s list of the most challenged books of the 1990s.
The novel was previously adapted for the small screen, as a 1978 television movie starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Dean Butler.
“Judy Blume’s ability to capture the real emotions we experience during the various rites of passage of our youth influenced my life choices and writing voice,” Brock Akil told Variety. “I’m honored to reimagine one of my favorite books, Forever….I am thrilled to have the opportunity of a lifetime to partner with a childhood icon and bring this story to my Netflix home, where the idea of your first love being with you Forever is shared with the world through the lens of Black love.”
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
