Judy Blume's body of work returns to her original editor, Richard Jackson, with the rerelease of four classics in hardcover. An African-American family moves to all-white Grove Street in Iggie's House, to be released in April. The author's breakthrough title, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, about 11-year old Margaret Simon's struggles with puberty and religion, is now available in hardcover as well as in a Spanish-language edition, Estas ahi Dios? Soy yo, Margaret. Two additional titles came out last season: Blubber takes on preteen teasing; and It's Not the End of the World explores the effects of divorce. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

"The purpose is worthy, and the most perceptive aspect of the book is the interpretation of the reaction of the black family."--Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books.

Gr 4–6—Winnie misses her best friend, Iggie, who moved with her family to Japan and mopes around the house in this novel by Judy Blume (Atheneum, 2002 rerelease). When she goes to see who moved into her friend's house, Winnie discovers a "Negro" family with three kids outside. She is excited to have her first "colored" neighbors, the Garbers. As Winnie befriends the family's children, the siblings are skeptical at first, and the eldest is perturbed that people always think they are from Africa, not Detroit. As Winnie gets to know the family, a busybody neighbor circulates a petition to households on Grove Street stating that "colored people" are not welcome in the neighborhood and that they must leave. As the tensions among neighbors mount, Winnie learns there is more to people than just the color of their skin as she discovers that, rather than focusing on being a good neighbor, she should just be a friend. Emily Janice Card provides superior narration, voicing the emotions of all the characters. Through the trials of one neighborhood, listeners learn about racial tension from a child's point of view.—Janet Weber, Tigard Public Library, OR

This 1970 novel depicts historical attitudes about race relations that may surprise young listeners today. Eleven-year-old Winnie loses her best friend when Iggie moves to Tokyo. Winnie remembers playing in the tree house and the fun of being welcomed into Iggie’s cosmopolitan family. As Winnie eagerly waits for a new family to move in, she has no idea she’s about to lose her innocence. The new family—the Garbers—is black, an anomaly in her community. Emily Janice Card evokes a time of life, an era, and Winnie’s transformation from naiveté to social awareness to activism. Blume depicts common attitudes of the period through the characters Winnie encounters—the righteousness and racism of an adult bully, her mother’s subtle prejudice, and the sarcasm of young Herbie Garber, who challenges Winnie’s narrow life. Card portrays them all credibly. S.W. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine