Author Judy Blume says she is worried about intolerance in the US after some of her novels were removed from schools.
Blume’s best-selling 1970 novel are you there god I’m Margaret was filmed and will be released in May, starring Abby Ryder Fortson, Rachel McAdams and Kathy Bates. The book, which is still sold to this day, has always attracted controversy for its open discussion of emerging sexuality and religion.
One of Blume’s other novels, Always, was recently pulled from schools in Martin County, Florida (along with titles from authors such as James Patterson and Toni Morrison). Blume told the BBC in London on Sunday that the “book ban” had become political – “worse than it was in the 1980s”.
She added: “I honestly thought it was over, I thought we’d come through, you know, not definitely, but I never expected to be back where we were in the 80s, much worse.
“I survived the 80s when book bans were really at their height. And it was terrible. And then libraries and schools began to develop policies, and we saw the desire to censor books diminish.
“Now it’s back, it’s much worse – it’s in America, it’s so much worse than it was in the ’80s. Because it’s become political.”
And Blume, whose novels have sold an estimated 90 million copies and been translated into more than 30 languages, added that she was concerned about the growing intolerance in her country, describing it as “intolerance towards everything, gender, sexuality, racism. It just comes to a point where we have to fight back, we have to stand up and fight.”
Source: Deadline
Bernice Bonaparte is an author and entertainment journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a passion for pop culture and a talent for staying up-to-date on the latest entertainment news, Bernice has become a trusted source for information on the entertainment industry.
