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Gabfest Reads is a monthly series from the hosts of Slate’s Political Gabfest podcast. This month, Emily Bazelon talked with Mark Oppenheimer about his new book Judy Blume: A Life. During part of their discussion, they explored what made Blume’s writing so revolutionary for young readers and how her own surprisingly frank upbringing gave her the freedom to go there.

This partial transcript has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Emily Bazelon: So why Judy Blume? There were a lot of people in the moment she started in 1970 who were starting to write what you call “realistic novels for tweens.” You’re kind of distinguishing her from what we now think of as YA, “Young Adult.” So anyway, that’s a lot of detail for me to be giving, but........

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