My feeling in the beginning was wait, this is America: we don't have censorship, we have, you know, freedom to read, freedom to write, freedom of the press, we don't do this, we don't ban books. Children's reading was much freer than in the 80s, when censorship started when we elected Ronald Reagan and the conservatives decided that they would decide not just what their children would read but what all children would read, it went crazy. 'When I started, in the 70s, it was a good time for children's book writers. ' Deenie, Forever …, every year, somewhere, they're challenged,' says Blume. Her books have drawn fire from parents ever since the 80s for their frank depiction of puberty and sexuality, from Deenie, the 13-year-old who touches herself in 'this special place and when I rub it I get a very nice feeling', to Katherine and Michael, the teenagers who fall in love and have sex – ever so responsibly – in Forever …. But Blume is also the recipient of a more dubious accolade: she is one of the most frequently challenged authors of the 21st century. She has been given an award for lifetime achievement from the American Library Association, the Library of Congress living legends award and the 2004 National Book Foundation medal for distinguished contribution to American letters.

Her books have sold 82m copies worldwide since The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo, her first book, was published in 1969. Blume, 76, is the sort of author who is beloved by her fans, who stretch from the children of today to the adults who read her books when they were growing up, and were astonished at finding a novelist who spoke so clearly, so uncondescendingly, so directly, to their concerns, whether masturbation ( Deenie), periods and boobs ( Margaret), sex and birth control ( Forever…), or death ( Tiger Eyes).

Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume