Judith Blume is an award-winning American author of children’s, young adult, and adult fiction. Born in 1938, she graduated from New York University with an education degree and began writing in 1959. Her first book, The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo, was published in 1969. Blume’s work is known for its frankness, humor, and first-person narratives that portray the concerns of young readers.