Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Seattle Writer Reflects On How Judy Blume's Books Inspired Her To Escape A Troubled Home

Dell Yearling Books
A collection of Judy Blume books from the 1970s.

This story originally aired on April 16, 2016.

For some people, home is not a place of safety and comfort. When writer Anastasia Selby was growing up around the Seattle suburbs and Olympia, home was a dangerous place of neglect and abuse. As a young girl facing some tragic circumstances, Selby often ran away from home.

Selby drew the strength to do that from what might seem like an unlikely place: the novels of acclaimed author, Judy Blume.

Titles such as "Are You There God? It's Me Margaret" and "Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing" riveted young Selby. In those kid's books, she found the confidence to escape her troubled home life and hack it on her own.

Gabriel Spitzer is a former KNKX reporter, producer and host who covered science and health and worked on the show Sound Effect.
Sound Effect producer Allie Ferguson has been making radio for nearly 5 years. She got her start at KUOW and has since traveled the country working for national news shows including WNYC's The Takeaway and NPR's Weekend All Things Considered. Allie won a 2016 Gracie Award, which celebrates women in media, for her work at KUOW. She enjoys telling surprising stories about passionate people.