As evidenced at this year’s Bologna Book Fair many agents and publishers are favoring more realistic, contemporary YA fiction over paranormal and dystopian books. But despite the prevalence of YA dystopian and paranormal film adaptations, recent industry buzz suggests that it may be just the right time for Tiger Eyes, after all. Tiger Eyes, with its character-based examination of a girl in the throes of grief, is a far cry from a dystopian blockbuster. Blume began writing the book after the marriage ended Lawrence first read it when he was in college and saw the parallels between his experience and Davey’s. There was the good, the bad, the evil, and the ugly,” said Blume during a recent interview. “The divorce was hard and what brought us to New Mexico was a guy. Following Blume’s divorce from Lawrence’s father, Blume remarried and the family relocated to New Mexico. The 1981 book had had a strong impact on Lawrence. Tiger Eyes, Blume’s 1981 novel about a girl named Davey who moves with her mother to New Mexico following the violent death of her father in a hold-up, had always been Lawrence’s favorite of his mother’s books, so there was little question that it was the one he’d choose. (For a PW story that speaks with both Blumes about the project, click here.) Not only did he pick the book, but he collaborated with Blume on the screenplay for Tiger Eyes and also took the director’s helm.

She left it up to her son, Lawrence (who has confessed to being the model for Blume’s Fudge books) to decide which of her books would make the transition to screen. Despite Blume’s reluctance, it was something she had hoped to do eventually, as long as it was under the right circumstances. Blume has admitted that much of the reason is due to her desire to maintain creative control over her stories. and simultaneously on VOD, stars Willa Holland, Amy Jo Johnson, and Tatanka Means.įor an author as prolific as Blume and at a time when movie rights to YA novels are sometimes sold long before readers can even get their hands on the books, it’s a bit puzzling that it’s taken so long for a Blume movie adaptation to happen. The film, which releases on June 7 in a small number of theaters across the U.S. Tiger Eyes, originally published in 1981 by Bradbury Press, is the first of Blume’s books to be adapted into a feature-length movie. Longtime fans of Blume will soon get the chance to see if that resonance transfers to the big screen. In fact, Blume herself reports keeping a box of tissues handy when she does signings, just in case a reader should need one. There’s something about Judy Blume’s novels that resonate emotionally with readers.

Tiger eyes book cover