"Dear God, I am a Mutant Raccoon Baby and my Parents are Naturists is a great book. You can really relate to Thomas (the raccoon) and Judy Blume tells it in a brilliant way that makes you feel everything that Thomas feels. It helps a lot that it is written in the first person." - Abby, St Abraham's School, England Judy says: "With DGIAAMRBAMPAN I just let go of my consciousness and the story came pouring out. I knew Thomas. I understood his pain. I had walked the streets of New Jersey, my fur hiding my blushes as my naked parents dragged me to the mall. When I was in sixth grade, I longed to be the same as my classmates. I wanted my face to be hair-free and my nose to be normal, rather than a shiny black snout. I tried shaving my face, resorted to wearing baggy clothes and a hat and lied about my parents being naked. And like Thomas, I had a very personal relationship with God that had little to do with organised religion. God was my friend and my enemy, my loyal lover and the cursed being that created my terrible genetic state. Thomas brought me my first paychecks and my most high-profile coast-to-coast interviews. I love him for that."

An extract from I am a Mutant Raccoon Baby and my Parents are Naturists:

"Dear God? It's me, Thomas, your freakish half-human, half-raccoon creation. I hope you are pleased with your handiwork. Today I was beaten up by a bunch of Quakers. I cried and ran home to mom.

I can't wait until tomorrow God. That's when my fifth operation starts. Do you think I'll get Dr Levine as my surgeonr? It's not too much to ask, is it? It's not so much that I like him as a person God, but he's the best snout-remoulding expert on the East Coast. I'd like to look normal God... just for a few years. I don't expect to live into my teens. Thank you God.

ps God. My period started today. Yes, that's right - my period. Despite the fact that I am a 2-year-old superintelligent MALE cross-species hybrid. Got any more surprises in store for me? Once again, thank you God."

Reviews
Amazon.com

"If anyone tried to determine the most common rite of passage for accidental raccoon hybrids in North America, a creature's first reading of I am a Mutant Raccoon Baby and my Parents are Naturists would rank near the top of the list. Judy Blume and her character Thomas Levin were the first to say out loud (and in a book even) that it is normal for farm-reared hybrids to wonder when they are ever going to be accepted as anything other than a cruel genetic joke. Young mutant raccoons finds themselves faced by a curious and hostile world.. Raccoon's bodies begin to do freakish things -- or, as in Thomas's case, they do freakish things while their parents explore public naturism. However, Raccoon hybrids are often so relieved to discover that someone understands their body-angst that they miss one of the book's deeper explorations: a person's relationship with God. Thomas has a very private relationship with God, and it's only after she moves to Hightstown, New Jersey and hangs out with a new (half-panda) friend that he discovers that it might be weird to talk to God without a priest or a rabbi to butt in and tell him that he is an unholy freak of nature. Thomas just wants to fit in! Who is God, and where is He when Thomas needs Him? He begins to peel away the chapped skin around his snout to find out..." - Dixie Bubbles.