Tiger Eyes (19 page)

I pat Bitsy on the back.

“And I’ll be so worried about you.”

“You don’t have to worry, Aunt Bitsy. We’re going to be all right.”

FORTY

Jason races down the beach, his Dracula cape flying behind him. Mom and I are quiet, listening to the sound of the surf crashing against the jetty.

There are so many memories here in Atlantic City. But you can’t go back. Not ever. You have to pick up the pieces and keep moving ahead.

I think about Lenaya and Hugh. Will they know how much I’ve changed this year? Will they have changed too? I’ll wait until tomorrow to find out. And then it’s possible I won’t find out after all. Because some changes happen deep down inside of you. And the truth is, only you know about them. Maybe that’s the way it’s supposed to be.

Judy Blume talks about writing
Tiger Eyes

Although there’s a violent crime at the center of the story,
Tiger Eyes
isn’t about violence. It’s about the sudden, tragic loss of someone you love. I lost my beloved father suddenly, when I was twenty-one. He died, not as the result of a violent crime, but of a heart attack at home. I was with him. I still can’t write this without choking up, remembering. Davey’s feelings about her father’s sudden death were based on mine, though I’m not sure I was aware of it while I was writing the book.

I lived in Los Alamos, New Mexico, the setting of the book, for two years. My teenage children went to school there. It wasn’t a happy experience, but it helped me write what George (my husband) and Larry (my grown son) think is my best book. It allowed me to write about a world I would never have known, about characters I’d never have imagined. Yet I had no idea, while I was living there, that I would ever write a book set in that town. All I could think of was getting out. It took a few years to look back and see it more clearly.

Deenie
Print ISBN: 978-0-385-73985-6
Ebook ISBN: 978-0-307-81775-4

When Deenie sees the brace for the first time, she wants to scream,
Forget it … I’m never going to wear that thing. Everyone will know. Everyone!

But the words won’t come out. And Deenie, beautiful Deenie, who everyone says should be a model, is stuck wearing a brace from her neck to her hips. For four years—or longer. She never worried about how she looked before—how will she ever face the hard times ahead?

It’s Not the End of the World
Print ISBN: 978-0-385-73983-2
Ebook ISBN: 978-0-307-81769-3

Karen Newman has decided she’ll never get married. Just look at her parents. All they do is fight. And now Karen’s dad has moved out of the house and he and her mom are talking about divorce. But in spite of everything, Karen is sure they can work it out if they really try—or is divorce the best solution?