Tiger Eyes: Young adult author Judy blooms on on the big screen, but why the wait?

Judy Blume, the beloved “young adult” author, might be 75-years-old now but she’s still proving that when it comes to the trials and tribulations of adolescent girls, nobody understands them quite like Judy.

Last week a trailer appeared for a film adaptation of Tiger Eyes, her 1981 coming of age novel which follows 15-year-old Davey Wexler after she witnesses her father’s murder and the family temporarily move to New Mexico.

Blume wrote the screenplay for the film, which stars Gossip Girl’s Willa Holland as Davey, and her son, Lawrence Blume, directed it. What’s so surprising is that this is the first film adaptation of one of the hugely popular author’s books (although there has been a television series based on her Fudge series and 1975’s Forever was made into a television film).

While her books have guided many young girls through puberty, covering everything from first periods (Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret) to bullying (Blubber) and teen sex (Forever), they have been met with much opposition from a number of parenting groups in America who deemed her work inappropriate for adolescents, leading many of them to be banned in schools.

Five of her books feature on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books (along with works such as American Psycho and A Clockwork Orange).

What is unclear is how much the story has been updated for modern audiences; 32 years is a long time, after all (Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret changed the belted sanitary napkins that the protagonist uses to adhesive sanitary pads in recent editions of the book for the benefit of a new generation).

The trailer shows the character’s wardrobes to look fairly contemporary (there’s not a legwarmer or rah-rah skirt in sight) but we’ll have to wait for the film’s release to see if Davey and her pals are gabbing away on their mobiles and sexting each other. Teens, eh?

Watch the trailer: goo.gl/XHXl7