Jesus said we should be ‘like little children’ and the faith of the pre-teen protagonist in Judy Blume’s best-selling novel is a great example of this

Woman Alive editor Tola-Doll Fisher on why coming of age story, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, in cinemas from 19 May, remains incredibly powerful even for adults.

My mum famously said ‘television is the enemy of progress’ so when I wasn’t doing chores, homework or any one of our scheduled extra-curricular activities, I spent many, many hours lying on my stomach devouring every single book in the house.

Because while mum may have objected to the American television loved by my peers, she was more than happy for me to be exposed to their writers. Enter Judy Blume: the woman whose coming of age books informed much of my early teenage years and played a major part in the lives of my peers all over the world.