Dear Raisin,

I don’t have much advice for you. I likely never will. When you get older, you’ll know better than to ask me: Your mom is smarter, kinder, and taller than I am. In most cases, she’ll know better than anyone else.

One thing I can tell you is that, regardless of how close you end up being with her, there are just some things you can’t talk about with your family. So if you ever need something you can’t get from any of us, I think you should ask Judy.

You don’t know Judy yet, because you are you five years old, and you cannot read. But she’ll be around when you’re ready. I read a bunch of her books when I was little—Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret; Blubber; Here’s To You, Rachel Robinson. I tried to read Forever… but I think your grandmother took it away from me halfway through.

-Scaachi Koul, in Hazlitt, with a “User’s Guide to Judy Blume” for elementary school through college.

Read the story