Blubber

Blubber is a young readers choice award winner by Judy Blume that was first published in 1974. The story is about the complicated life of fifth-grader Jill Brenner. Jill and everybody else in her class are always bullying Linda Fischer because she is fat. They even go as far as to nickname Linda "Blubber" and force her to eat a chocolate-covered ant while she cries instead of stand up for herself. 

The main theme of Blubber is bullying and how it can hurt peoples feelings. Instead of bullying Linda physically they bully her with words. Being bullied with words is more hurtful because a broken bone can heal but mean words go to your head and they mess with your mind.

This book takes place in Hidden Valley, Radnor, Pennsylvania. Hidden Valley is where a bunch of Jill's classmates live including Jill and her best friend Tracy Wu. Hidden Valley is a very woodsy place therefore there are two signs at the front one says Welcome to Hidden Valley-Speed Limit 25 Miles Per Hour and on the other side a sign that says Watch Our Children. These signs are there to insure the safety of the children. This shows the parents care about their children physically but don't pay close enough attention to see that they are being bullied mentally.

Characters

• Jill Brenner - protagonist and best friend of Tracy Wu 
• Linda Fischer - kid that everybody bullies because she's fat
• Wendy - mean girl in class who everyone is afraid of
• Mrs.Minish -  Jill's teacher for fifth-grade

I Liked Blubber because it was a good book with characters real kids might be able to relate to. This book teaches kids a good lesson about how bullying can hurt peoples feelings.  I recommend this book to people who like realistic fiction.

Judy Blume has written many books among them are Freckle Juice, Superfudge, Deenie, Starring Sally J. Freedman As Herself and many more. Over 80 million copies of her books have been sold and she has been translated into 31 different languages.

 

IL: MG - BL: 3.8 - AR Pts: 4.0