I’m the manager of a small branch of a large library system. I don’t have a children’s librarian on staff, but the children’s librarians at the main library choose the books for the collection. A parent has filed a formal complaint that my staff allowed her nine-year-old daughter to check out Deenie by Judy Blume. How should I handle this?

It sounds as if there are two issues: (1) A problem with your staff (2) A complaint against the book. Make sure that the mother understands that it’s never the role of the librarian to monitor what children read. Then invite the mother to file a book reconsideration form, which I assume is part of your library system’s policy. Deenie is appropriate for most nine-year-olds. The mother needs to tell her daughter if she doesn’t want her to read it. I do think it wise to ask the children’s librarians at the main library to conduct a workshop in children’s services for your staff. They may need reassurance about their roles.

A seventh-grade student brought his mother’s ereader to class on the last day of school. He passed it around so that students could read passages from Fifty Shades of Grey. It created an uproar and the teacher came to the library to ask my help. I really didn’t know what to do.

This is no different from my generation passing around dog-eared copies of Peyton Place. Don’t make a big deal out of the situation. In the future, advise the teacher to simply ask the student to focus on class work and continue reading the book when he gets home.

My friend’s son (an advanced eighth-grade student in the middle school where I’m a librarian) may take ninth-grade English for credit. The summer reading selection for ninth-graders in the school district is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. He is registered for freshman English in the fall, but she doesn’t want him to read the novel. I was her easiest target because she doesn’t know the English teacher. I didn’t know how to handle this.

Do you know for a fact that students weren’t given a reading choice? Many school districts allow students to make a summer reading selection from a list of books provided by English teachers. This accommodates various interests and maturity levels. If this isn’t the case, then the mother has a choice. She can elect to take her son out of the class and put him in regular eighth-grade English. If she insists that he stay in the class, then he needs to complete the requirement. It sounds as if she will listen to you.

I’m taking an online course in children’s services from a university that is located in another part of the country. I have an issue with some of the theories about public library services to children. In my public library system, children are welcome to use the entire library collection. The professor defines children as birth to 11 years old. This makes me feel that I have to defend the policy of my library system.

Children should have free and open access to books and materials. Most children will reject what they aren’t ready for, especially if they don’t feel the materials are forbidden. What about 12- and 14-year-olds who simply want to continue using the children’s room? Does this professor think that they should be banned because they grew up? Your library is on the right track.

Another elementary school in my district had several challenges last year. Since my school library has a number of parent volunteers, I thought it wise to provide them training in hopes of avoiding challenges in my school. What should I tell them?

Two main points: (1) Student privacy is a requirement (2) Leave reader guidance to you. I personally recommend that parent volunteers be used for more clerical types of jobs. If parents want to read aloud to students, then make the reading choice together. Never ask a parent to read aloud something they aren’t comfortable reading.

(l. to r.) Willa Holland (Davey) and Amy Jo Johnson (Gwen Wexler).
All photos courtesy of Freestyle Releasing.

The gorgeous landscape of northern New Mexico becomes a supporting character in the first big-screen adaptation of a Judy Blume novel, Tiger Eyes (Delacorte, 1981). Though it may not be the first of her bestsellers that a fan would expect to see in theaters (Forever maybe?), this is her most cinematic, as the author herself has noted. The mountainous scenery around Los Alamos adds a sheen that money can’t buy, enhancing the look of this low-budget film.

Both the book and the film well capture the insularity of this company town, dominated by Los Alamos National Laboratories. Readers would be hard pressed to find fault with the screen translation, adapted by Blume and the film’s director, her son Lawrence. They will recognize almost verbatim passages of dialogue and a story line that has been tweaked only here and there. More than 30 years after it was published, the YA novel holds up very well, still retaining a contemporary and candid voice, with only a few nods to the early 1980s—Jean Naté, anyone?

(l. to r.) Amy Jo Johnson, Willa Holland, and Lucien Dale (Jason Wexler)

As in the book, the movie begins with 17-year-old Davey (Arrow’s Willa Holland) and her family getting ready for a funeral: her father had been shot in the heart during the robbery of his Atlantic City boardwalk café. Afterwards, her 30-something mother takes up Aunt Bitsy’s offer to visit the Land of Enchantment for a week or so, but once there, plans change. Mom drifts through Bitsy’s house catatonically, downs meds, and holes up in her bedroom—she’s in no state to return home, but Davey’s seven-year old brother, Jason (Lucien Dale), adapts to his new life, showing no sign of grieving.

Now the new kid in her high school, Davey befriends Jane (Elise Eberle), a girl with issues—she carries a bottle of vodka in her school bag (and mysteriously drops out of the film towards the end). And out on a trek in the canyons, Davey begins a bumpy flirtation with a handsome college student named Wolf (Tatanka Means, son of the late Russell Means, who also appears here as the young man’s father). They share something in common: Wolf’s also facing mortality, as his dad’s dying of cancer.

Guided by a gentle pace, this is a quiet film, in tone and in its acting. More often than not, the scenes have fluidity, the best example of which is a night of Monopoly with Davey and Jason, which turns from playful to acrimonious in a flash.

Tatanka Means (Wolf)

The major challenge in bringing this book to any screen is how to dramatize the first-person observations of the angry-at-the-world Davey, who keeps a lid on her emotions, at least publicly, delaying a full-on reaction about her father’s killing. She goes so far as to lie to Jane that her father is working in India. On a Richter scale of young actresses today, the guarded Willa Holland is closer to Kristen Stewart’s quiescent aloofness than The Descendants’ Shailene Woodley’s volatility. Holland is surrounded by Cynthia Stevenson and Amy Jo Johnson as her aunt and mother, both of whom bring a needed level of complexity to their roles.

On the same day the film was released in theaters, it was also made available via video on demand throughout the country. Television is perhaps the ideal venue for this intimate, observational drama. It’s always been something of a head-scratcher that there haven’t been more Blume adaptations considering her large built-in fan base, especially on cable television with its niche driven channels. Maybe Tiger Eyes is the first step.

Directed by Lawrence Blume

Rated PG-13

92 min.

Director and co-writer Lawrence Blume, author and co-writer Judy Blume, and actress Amy Jo Johnson (Gwen Wexler) answer questions after screening of Tiger Eyes, the first motion picture adaptation of one of the author’s novels. Photos by Chelsey Philpot.

On June 7,  Tiger Eyes (PG-13) premiered in select theaters nationwide and was also released simultaneously on Video On Demand and iTunes. Co-written by Judy and Lawrence, who also directed, this film is the first adaptation of one of the iconic author’s novels. Actress Amy Jo Johnson, who plays the main character’s mother in the film, joined the Blumes in a panel discussion and Q & A session with the audience at the movie’s premiere at the AMC Theaters in Times Square, New York City.

For more information, read Betsy Bird’s interview with the mother/son team.

See also: Tiger Eyes and Transliteracy: Confessions of Someone Who Hasn’t Read the Novel

Judy Blume and Tatanka Means on the set of Tiger Eyes. Photos by Lorey Sebastian/Run Lizard.

When you take into account the vast influence author Judy Blume has had over multiple generations of readers, it might seem absurd that none of her books have ever made the leap from page to silver screen. You may recall that the author’s “Fudge” series (Penguin) was turned into a Saturday morning television show in 1995, and Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great (Dutton, 1972) was produced as a TV movie (directed by Judy’s son, Lawrence Blume) in 1991, but a major motion picture has, until now, been sorely lacking.

Lawrence Blume with actors Willa Holland and Tatanka Means.

That changes on June 7 when Tiger Eyes (PG-13) hits select theaters nationwide and will also be released simultaneously on Video On Demand and iTunes. The movie stars Willa Holland as Davey Wexler, a teenager who is still reeling after the sudden and violent death of her father. Forced by her distraught mother to move from Atlantic City, NJ, to the town of Los Alamos, NM, Davey finds herself on unfamiliar terrain, an outsider who reveals little about her emotional turmoil. However, while out exploring the nearby canyons, she meets Wolf (Tatanka Means), a local Native American who seems able to see beyond her facade, and they forge a connection that will change her life forever. Co-written by Judy and Lawrence, who also directed, this film marks the second collaboration between mother and son.

Both Blumes took time out of their busy schedules to talk about the book, the film, and the advantages and disadvantages of independent filmmaking in the 21st century.

So why Tiger Eyes? You know, of all the Judy Blume books in this great, big, wonderful world, how did this become “the one”? 

JB: [Larry and I had] talked about doing Tiger Eyes for years if only we could find funding to do it, because it’s the most cinematic of my books. I mean, maybe Summer Sisters (Delacorte, 1998). But Tiger Eyes has that sense of place that’s so important. When you see it, you will see that there’s Davey and there’s Wolf, and there’s the New Mexico landscape, and that’s as important a character as any of the others. Everything that happens to Davey that has meaning happens in that landscape, in those canyons, going into the caves. It’s a life-changing experience for her.

Lawrence Blume: It’s certainly something we always talked about doing. It didn’t just pop out of the blue. But at this time, it wasn’t something that was on our front burner. So it was really lucky [that the opportunity came up], and the fact that we got to do it our way, for better or worse within a very limited budget.  But along with that limited budget came creative freedom. So it’s very personal.

 Of course, this is not the first mother-son collaboration of this sort that we’ve heard of. Katherine Paterson’s son, David, wrote the screenplay for the 2007 film adaptation of his mother’s Bridge to Terabithia (Crowell, 1977), and that worked out beautifully. The difference is that in this case you two collaborated together on the movie script. Have you had much experience, Judy, co-writing with anyone before, or was this the first time?

JB: [Laughs] I can’t say that I’ve ever co-written anything. I did work closely with some writers over the years who were hired by companies to turn one or another of my books into screenplays. Never worked, never happened. This was completely different. This was exciting and creative and happy. It was emotional and it was good.

LB: I’d say [it was] a very positive experience. Making this movie was pretty joyful even though it’s a sad subject. But the process of making it and trying to put the puzzle together was really incredibly rewarding and engaging, and I hope it comes through on the screen.

Judy on the set in Puyee NM.

JB: You know, we did Sheila the Great when we were kids. We were both kids then. [Laughter] At that point, I had never even been on a movie set. I know more now, and I’m more mature. And I think when you decide that [something will] be a wonderful experience—that goes a long way in making it a wonderful experience. Larry and I knew that we wanted it to be that way. I think that’s what came across for everyone on the set, even the Teamsters. We had these big guys crying at certain scenes.

We were also so lucky with our cast. I don’t know really how much a director ever knows, but we had to cast very quickly. I loved that process. And we lucked out. I mean, we have a little boy [Lucien Dale, who plays Jason Wexler] who was in second grade in public school in Santa Fe, and he is a real kid,… not a cutesy movie kid. He and Willa [Holland], who plays Davey, just bonded. She’s playing his big sister in a very troubled family story. He just adored her, and I think there was no actor that Willa was closer to than Lucien. When you have something like that it really comes through on the screen.

LB: We cast very carefully, and we saw 100 girls. But I think in the end there’s a leap of faith with your cast.

JB: Yes, we didn’t know [Holland] at all, which was so good for us. She’s just so Davey. You know she’s protecting herself, but you can see it all there on her face.

I remember Larry saying that he wanted it to feel as intimate as a first-person novel. And Willa is in every scene. The whole movie is from her point of view. And it’s very intimate.

The movie is being released in theaters as well as through Video On Demand and iTunes. Brave new world. How do you feel about these alternate forms of media that are now an option for films that, in the past, were relegated solely to theatrical releases?

LB: Well, I have mixed feelings, but generally I’m excited about it because unless you’re a big studio movie that’s coming out on 3,000 screens at once, or you have a smaller company with very deep pockets, it’s always sad when you release an independent film because you’re going to have a very limited theatrical release. And now thefilm is available in every town in America on June 7th. Whether you’re going to the theater to see it, or sitting on your sofa and clicking and buying it, or watching it on iTunes, it’s really exciting to me because that means the film has every chance of reaching the widest possible audience.

You seem to have the best of both worlds here.

LB: I think so. I mean, I love the idea of it being in theaters because it’s so beautiful to look at but I also love the idea of women getting together and having Tiger Eyes parties at their houses. I think the nostalgia audience has really helped get the word out about this. They’ve been great in tweeting and blogging.

Judy, I have one final question for you. It’s very important. Is Larry actually the inspiration behind Farley Drexel Hatcher, better known to the world as Fudge? This is what inquiring minds want to know.

JB: [Laughs] Larry, answer that.

LB: No, you answer it. She asked you. I don’t know.

JB: He is—he was the inspiration, yes. He never swallowed a turtle, but that’s because we didn’t have one.

So, had a turtle been within his reach it would have been an option?

LB: Probably.

JB: He was a very interesting child, and look, he’s an interesting adult. So there you go.

Judy Blume Opens Up About Breast Cancer Diagnosis on her blog.

In a candid and sometimes humorous blog post, Judy Blume revealed Wednesday that she was diagnosed with breast cancer in June and recently underwent a mastectomy and reconstruction. She’s now recuperating and getting ready to start work on her next book.

Now, one month post-surgery, Blume tweeted earlier today that she’s in Martha’s Vineyard for the first time this summer attending  the film fest, where the film adaptation of her 1981 novel Tiger Eyes will screen Saturday night.

“[I'm] feeling stronger every day, walking a couple of miles in the park each morning and going out to early dinners with [her husband] George,” Blume wrote, adding while she still naps daily, she’s finally able to read again without falling asleep. “I’m not working on my book yet (have just been given permission to type an hour at a time with arm exercises in between) but I’m thinking about getting back to it after Labor Day, kind of like starting school.”

The shocking news came when Blume, 74, was preparing to leave for a five-week trip to Italy, with four of those weeks devoted to staying at an artists’ colony at a castle in Umbria, where she was hoping to wrap up her new book. But a routine visit to the radiologist on June 12 to check on dense breast tissue resulted in the unexpected.

“There’s no breast cancer in my family (recent extensive genetic testing shows no genetic connection),” Blume wrote. “I haven’t eaten red meat in more than 30 years. I’ve never smoked, I exercise every day, forget alcohol—it’s bad for my reflux—I’ve been the same weight my whole adult life. How is this possible? Well, guess what—it’s possible.”

The biopsy report came back a few days later with the news that Blume had invasive ductal carcinoma, the most common type of breast cancer. Blume also revealed that she had a hysterectomy 17 years ago as a result of cervical cancer caused by the Human papillomavirus.

“For whatever reason I didn’t cry. I choked up that first day, but the tears didn’t flow,” wrote Blume, explaining that instead, she decided to take action. “Okay, I thought—let’s gather all the info, talk with both my primary care docs in NY. Talk with friends who’ve been through this. Ask for recommendations. Get a list of breast surgeons. Get this done. Taking charge (or thinking I was taking charge) made me feel better.”

What followed were some of the hardest decisions she’d ever made in her life: whether to have a lumpectomy followed by radiation or a mastectomy with or without reconstruction.

Blume’s cardiologist, who is also her primary care doctor, and her gynecologist, both recommended against radiation. “Hearing the same thing from each of them was powerful,” Blume said, which helped her ultimately decide to undergo a mastectomy and reconstruction.

Blume said she might have opted for a double mastectomy if she were younger, “not for the “matched pair” but for the worry that it will happen again in the other breast.”

In the six weeks prior to surgery, and with permission from her doctors, Blume went to Nantucket, where she’d rented a house for two weeks. The film adaptation of Tiger Eyes, directed by her son Lawrence Blume and starring Willa Holland as Davey and Amy Jo Johnson as Gwen Wexler, was screening at the Nantucket Film Festival. She also spent four days in San Francisco, as planned, where Tiger Eyes was screening at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. Blume apologized for not staying after the screening to sign books.

“Note to disappointed fans in San Francisco: I’m sorry I couldn’t stay after the screening to sign your books,” she wrote. “Now you know why. I wasn’t supposed to be in crowds. Could not take the chance of catching a bug before surgery. On the plane I wore a surgical mask (and scrubbed our seats, tray tables, etc, like a lunatic while George pretended to be asleep) but I couldn’t do that with you without explaining, and the time wasn’t right for explaining. I’ll come back to your beautiful city and sign books for you another time.”

Blume’s advice to the public was clear: “If you have dense breast tissue ask your radiologist about having a sonogram,” she says, adding how grateful she was to her to her radiologist, who’s performed her mammograms for two decades. “If she hadn’t decided I should have a sonogram because of dense breast tissue we still wouldn’t know,” Blume wrote, adding that, “this didn’t show up in a mammo or in physical exams, and I’m checked by doctors four times a year. Even the breast surgeon couldn’t feel this one.”

Blume joked about now being a member of “The Club.” “Not one I wanted to join or even thought I would ever be joining—but here I am,” she wrote. “I’m part of this Sisterhood of the Traveling Breast Cells (apologies to Ann Brashares). Medical diagnoses can leave you feeling alone and scared. When it comes to breast cancer you’re not alone, and scary though it is, there’s a network of amazing women to help you through it.”

Blume thanked her friends who’ve survived breast cancer for their help and support.

“They got me through this. They were my inspiration.”