"I'm thrilled by this unexpected honour," Blume said in a statement Wednesday, when the award was announced. "We don't write hoping to win awards. We write because we have to - because of a burning need to share our characters and stories." The National Book Foundation, a non-profit organization that sponsors the awards, said it was the first time they had recognized a genre for young readers.

"We're very pleased to have Judy Blume receive the prize, because it is the first time we have given it to a young people's author," said board chairwoman Deborah Wiley.

"She is also someone who gives back a great deal to the community."

The author's many books include Deenie; Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. In 1986, she sorted through her considerable fan mail and published Letters to Judy: What Your Kids Wish They Could Tell You.

While past winners of the honorary award include Arthur Miller, Philip Roth and Eudora Welty, in recent years the medal has gone just as often to writers of genres once disregarded by the literary establishment. Ray Bradbury, the science fiction master, won in 2000. Stephen King, known for his bestselling horror tales, received the prize last year.

"Having raised two daughters I can tell you how important the work of Judy Blume is," said Jessica Hagedorn, a foundation board member and author of Dogeaters and several other books. "For young people, she is as literary a writer as you can ask for."

Like King, the 66-year-old Blume has enjoyed enormous commercial success. Her books have sold more than 75 million copies and have been translated into more than 20 languages. She also founded the Kids Fund, a charitable and educational foundation, and has served on numerous boards, including the Author's Guild and the National Coalition Against Censorship.

However, not all grown-ups have found her work fit for children. Blume is known for dealing explicitly with sex, religion and divorce and her books often have been placed in restricted sections of libraries or pulled altogether from shelves.

She responded by editing the compilation Places I Never Meant to Be, Original Stories by Censored Writers, published in 1999.

According to the American Library Association, Blume's Forever, the story of a teenage girl's feelings about sex and love, ranked No. 8 on the list of most "challenged" books of the 1990s. The ALA, which on Sept. 25 will mark its annual "Banned Books Week," defines a "challenge" as a formal, written complaint filed (usually by a parent) with a library or school.

"Judy Blume has been a champion for intellectual freedom for many, many years," Carol Brey-Casiano, president of the ALA, said. "We think her books are of very high quality and that she raises some important issues."