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Judy Blume’s Forever wasn’t a book that most readers just stumbled upon. “Obtaining, hiding, and reading it—and then sharing it with others—was a rite of passage for many teens who came of age during and after the sexual revolution,” Anna Holmes writes of the teen novel. “Well-worn, dog-eared copies were passed around or hidden in closets, dresser drawers, and backpacks.”
Part of the appeal of the book, which was published 50 years ago this October, was its choice to depict sex from the perspective of the female protagonist—“sexuality was (and still is) rarely depicted in popular culture from a woman’s vantage point,” Holmes points out. For a young person, a novel like Blume’s was an invitation to imagine what life might be like someday. But perhaps more important, it was a chance to see their own desires and anxieties reflected back at them—to feel validated in the thoughts that can feel too scary to say out loud. Today’s newsletter explores the singular power of the art we discover as teens.
On Teen Novels
The Classic Teen Novel I Still Haven’t Forgotten
By Anna Holmes
My secret first encounter with Judy Blume’s Forever
Judy Blume Goes All the WayBy Amy Weiss-Meyer
A new generation discovers the poet laureate of puberty. (From 2023)
The Books We Read Too Late—And That You Should Read Now
By The Atlantic Culture Desk
One of the great, bittersweet pleasures of life is finishing a title and thinking about how it might have affected you—if only you’d found it sooner. (From 2022)
Still Curious?
- The importance of the coming-of-age novel: The transitions from child to teenager and teenager to adult are full of triumphs and struggles, Elise Hannum wrote in 2023.
- No parents allowed: In the 1980s and ’90s, Adrienne Salinger photographed teenagers in their bedrooms. Her images recall an era before smartphones and social media, when you constructed your identity on the walls of your room.
Other Diversions
- Golf’s very loud weekend
- Finally, a new idea in rock and roll
- Allen Ginsberg, great American poet-buffoon
P.S.
I recently asked readers to share a photo of something that sparks their sense of awe in the world. Maureen T., 75, from Toronto, Canada, shared these photos of the Hopewell Rocks in the Bay of Fundy, in New Brunswick, Canada.
I’ll continue to feature your responses in the coming weeks.
— Isabel
The post What Teen Novels Are Capable of appeared first on The Atlantic.
