Looking for the Judy Blume books in order? Blume’s bibliography is a little trickier than it looks because she wrote picture books, middle grade classics, young adult novels, adult fiction, series books, non-fiction, and anthologies.
The easiest way to sort it out is to separate her children’s and teen standalones from her adult novels and series books. That way, you can jump straight to the Fudge books, the Pain and the Great One books, her adult novels, or her classic coming-of-age titles without mixing everything together.
Jump to:
- Where Should You Start with Judy Blume?
- Judy Blume Standalone Books
- Judy Blume Adult Books
- Judy Blume Books by Series
- Judy Blume Picture Books and Non-Fiction
- Judy Blume Anthologies
- Judy Blume Book-to-Screen Adaptations
- About Judy Blume
Where Should You Start with Judy Blume?
For younger readers, start with Freckle Juice, The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo, or Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. Those give you Blume’s humor and kid-level honesty without jumping into her heavier teen themes.
For classic coming-of-age Judy Blume, start with Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. That’s still the book many readers think of first because it talks about puberty, friendship, religion, and growing up in a way that feels direct rather than preachy.
For teens, Forever…, Deenie, and Tiger Eyes are better fits, depending on the reader. For adults, start with Summer Sisters if you want a big friendship story, or In the Unlikely Event if you want Blume writing historical fiction inspired by the plane crashes that shook her hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey.
Judy Blume Standalone Books
These are Blume’s children’s, middle grade, and young adult standalone books. They don’t need to be read in order, so you can start with the one that fits the age, subject, or tone you’re looking for.
- Iggie’s House (1970)
- Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. (1970)
- Then Again, Maybe I Won’t (1971)
- It’s Not the End of the World (1972)
- Deenie (1973)
- Blubber (1974)
- Forever… (1975)
- Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself (1977)
- Tiger Eyes (1981)
Judy Blume Adult Books
Blume’s adult novels are separate from her children’s and teen books for a reason. These are written for adults, with adult relationships, marriage, sex, grief, memory, and complicated friendships at the center.
- Wifey (1978)
- Smart Women (1983)
- Summer Sisters (1998)
- In the Unlikely Event (2015)
Judy Blume Books by Series
Fudge Books
The Fudge books are Blume’s best-known series. Each book has its own story, but the main characters carry through from book to book, especially Peter Hatcher, his little brother Fudge, and Sheila Tubman.
You can technically read some of these out of order, but publication order is the cleanest way to follow the characters as they grow up.
- Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (1972)
- Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great (1972)
- Superfudge (1980)
- Fudge-a-Mania (1990)
- Double Fudge (2002)
Best Friends Books
The Best Friends books follow Stephanie Hirsch and Rachel Robinson. The first book starts with Stephanie and Rachel in seventh grade, just as a new girl named Alison moves into the neighborhood and changes the balance of their friendship.
This is a short two-book series, so read it in publication order.
- Just as Long as We’re Together (1987)
- Here’s to You, Rachel Robinson (1993)
Pain and the Great One Books
The Pain and the Great One books follow Abigail and her younger brother Jacob. Abigail thinks she’s the Great One. Jacob gets stuck being the Pain. They annoy each other constantly, but underneath the bickering, this is a warm sibling series.
The original The Pain and the Great One is a picture book. The later books are chapter books with multiple short stories. There are also bind-ups, including The Pain and the Great One: Saturday Stories, but those collect existing material rather than changing the main reading order.
- The Pain and the Great One (1984)
- Soupy Saturdays with the Pain and the Great One (2007)
- Cool Zone with the Pain and the Great One (2008)
- Going, Going, Gone! with the Pain and the Great One (2008)
- Friend or Fiend? with the Pain and the Great One (2009)
Judy Blume Picture Books and Non-Fiction
Blume also wrote a few shorter books, non-fiction titles, and extras that don’t fit neatly with the novels above. I’m listing The Pain and the Great One with its series, so this section starts with her other picture and story books.
- The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo (1969)
- Freckle Juice (1971)
- The Judy Blume Diary (1981)
- Letters to Judy: What Kids Wish They Could Tell You (1986)
- The Judy Blume Memory Book (1988)
The Judy Blume Diary, Letters to Judy, and The Judy Blume Memory Book can be harder to find than her novels. They’re worth knowing about for completionist readers, but they’re not where I’d start with Blume.
Judy Blume Anthologies
Blume has also been connected to a few anthologies. Places I Never Meant to Be is the most important one to know because Blume edited it. The other two are multi-author collections that include her work alongside other writers.
- Places I Never Meant to Be (Editor) (1999)
- It’s Fine to Be Nine (2000)
- It’s Heaven to Be Seven (2000)
Judy Blume Book-to-Screen Adaptations
Judy Blume’s books have reached the screen a few different ways. Older adaptations include a 1978 TV movie of Forever…, a TV version of Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great, and the 1990s Fudge TV series.
For newer viewers, the easiest places to start are Tiger Eyes, the 2012 film co-written by Judy Blume and her son Lawrence Blume, and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret., the 2023 film starring Abby Ryder Fortson, Rachel McAdams, Benny Safdie, and Kathy Bates.
Forever… also became a Netflix series from creator Mara Brock Akil, with Lovie Simone and Michael Cooper Jr. starring as the central couple. There is also Judy Blume Forever, a documentary about Blume’s life, career, readers, and censorship battles.
About Judy Blume
Judy Blume was born and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey. She also spent time in Miami Beach as a child, which helped shape Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself.
Blume is also closely tied to Books & Books @ The Studios of Key West, the independent bookstore she helped launch with her husband, George Cooper, and other local book lovers.
Blume’s books have sold more than 90 million copies around the world, but her real strength is honesty. She wrote about periods, masturbation, wet dreams, sex, bullying, divorce, grief, and growing up without talking down to kids.
That honesty also made her one of the most challenged and banned authors in the United States. NPR reported that Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. was banned in the 1970s from the same school Blume’s children attended, and her books have continued to appear in censorship fights decades later.
That tension is a big part of why Blume still matters. Her books are warm, funny, and readable, but they also trusted young readers with subjects adults often wanted to avoid.
Looking for more books in order?
If you want more authors and reading-order guides like this one, start with my Books in Order index.