Are you there, God? It's me, a winner!

Judy Blume will receive the National Book Foundation's annual lifetime award on Nov. 17. The author of more than 20 books, Ms. Blume is the first author of young-adult books to receive the award.

Her books have sold more than 75 million copies and been translated into more than 20 languages. A statement issued by the foundation last week praised Blume's "realistic descriptions of how kids cope with a family move to the suburbs, divorce, and their own sexual awakening." Her most popular titles include a series of novels about a young girl named Fudge and "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret."

In the 1980s when she discovered that her books were being placed on restricted shelves and removed from libraries, she became actively involved in the fight against censorship.