From: Alixwrites at aol.com <Alixwrites>
Date: Wed, 24 May 2006 10:43:49 EDT

There were several books I read and reread in my childhood, particularly A LITTLE PRINCESS, NATIONAL VELVET, and THE TRUTH ABOUT MARY ROSE, but the one that really had an impact on me was BLUBBER by Judy Blume. I don't think I understood at the time why the book spoke to me so much, but when I reread it as
 an adult, I did. It is one of the rawest (Is that a word?) books I have ever read, so real, with no attempt to sugarcoat the bullying and teasing. Judy Blume didn't portray stereotypical bullying like stealing lunch money, but rather, the real bullying that eats at one's self-image. I was a teased child myself, so the book really spoke to me and let me understand that my class wasn't the only one out there like it, and also, the dynamics of bullying, that someone can be bully one day and victim the next. As a writer, I can only hope one day to write something this real.
  Best, Alex Flinn

What happened to Caitlin after Breathing Underwater? Check out an excerpt from Diva (HarperTempest, October, 2006) at
_www.alexflinn.com_ (http://www.alexflinn.com/)
Received on Wed 24 May 2006 09:43:49 AM CDT