7 Judy Blume Books Begging for Adaptations — Are You There, TV Execs?
You don’t have to wait forever for the next Judy Blume adaptation: Forever premiered on Netflix on Thursday, May 8.
Developed by Mara Brock Akil, Forever reimagines Blume’s 1975 of the same name, telling the love story of two Black teens, played by Lovie Simone and Michael Cooper Jr., who explore romance and their identities through the awkward journey of being each other’s firsts in Los Angeles in 2018.
“I’m thrilled that Mara has chosen to tell this story through her own lens,” Blume told Tudum. “It is gratifying to know that, 50 years after its release, the love story at the core of Forever is still resonating with audiences.”
Of course, Blume’s stories have been resonating with TV and film audiences for decades now. A TV movie based on Forever aired in 1978, starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Dean Butler. An adaptation of Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great aired as part of ABC Weekend Specials in 1991. The children’s TV show Fudge, based on Blume’s Fudge book series, hit ABC in 1995. And Tiger Eyes became a movie in 2012, followed by Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret in 2023.
Still, many of Blume’s stories are out there just waiting for adaptations. Here’s a sampling — and, surprise, surprise, they’re not all children’s books.
Forever, Streaming Now, Netflix
The Pain and the Great One
This 1974 picture book is narrated through the conflicting viewpoints of two siblings: the sister who thinks her brother is “The Pain,” and the brother who sarcastically calls his sister “The Great One.” And their adventures — occasionally recounted by the family cat, Fluzzy — continued in four chapter books three decades later. An TV show based on these stories could be like a Rashomon-formatted sitcom that’s fun for the whole family.
Iggie’s House
Blume’s first novel-length book deals with the white neighbors on Grove Street not welcoming the neighborhood’s first Black family with open arms — except for protagonist Winnie. On her website, Blume says she was as naïve as Winnie is when she was growing up, and an adaptation of Iggie’s House could delve into the still-relevant topics of racial tensions in America and white-saviordom.
Just as Long as We’re Together
Blume says on her website she loves “writing about girls’ lives when they’re right on the edge,” and in this YA story story, seventh-grader Stephanie is right on the edge of her teen years — and of losing best friend Rachel after befriending new girl Alison and finding that three’s a crowd in their friendship. This 1987 book and its 1993 companion novel, Here’s to You, Rachel Robinson — and the Alison-centric novel Blume wants to write to finish the trilogy — have enough material for a thoughtful, so-real-it’s-painful coming-of-age TV series.
In the Unlikely Event
Apocalyptic stories are all the rage on TV these days, and the residents of Elizabeth, New Jersey, must have felt like the world was ending as three planes crashed in the city in a two-month span between December 1951 and February 1952. Blume, who grew up in Elizabeth, uses those real-life tragedies as the backdrop for a tale of three generations of families, friends, and strangers coping with a suddenly incomprehensible world.
Wifey
Once slated to be adapted into an HBO limited series by SMILF’s Frankie Shaw, Wifey is the first book Blume wrote for adults — and we’re sure countless parents kept it at the top of their bookshelves. The story’s protagonist is a housewife contracted by 1950s social mores in her 1970 life… until she starts indulging in her sexual fantasies. We could see someone like Phoebe Waller-Bridge or Issa Rae or Sharon Horgan bring Wifey to the screen.
Smart Women
Fans of Firefly Lane would gravitate to a TV series or movie based on this adult novel by Blume, which tracks two divorced friends in 1980s-era Boulder, Colorado, who navigate new romantic challenges when one falls in love with the other’s ex. And in an inventive twist, the ensuing love triangle is told from the perspectives of the adults and their teenaged kids.
Summer Sisters
Similarly, this story tracks the ups and downs of two friends, Vix and Caitlin, over the span of nearly 20 summers — as new friendships, romances, and life events push them together and pull them apart. Think One Day but with onetime besties instead of lovers. Little Fires Everywhere boss Liz Tigelaar was attached to bring Summer Sisters to Hulu at one point — and we hope she still does.
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