Blubber

Rating:
Summary: Sad but true!
Review: The book Blubber by Judy Blume was an interesting book. I recommend this book to 5th graders because it takes place in 5th grade but, I don't recommend this to boys.

Jill, the narrator, is in a 5th grade class that is presenting there animal reports. Jill's best friend in the book is Tracy. Linda, the target, was doing a whale report. Clearly Linda gets the name Blubber from her whale report because Wendy, one of Jill's "friends", makes a note saying," Blubber is a good name for her", responding to Linda. So Linda gets bullied a lot by Jill, Wendy, Tracey, and Caroline mostly and the class goes along. At the end Jill learns a huge lesson about how you should treat others.

What I liked about the story was that it really showed how kids can overreact by torturing the character Linda. Kids can relate to the story a lot by what going on in there life. I also liked at the end everybody learns a lesson about themselves. What I didn't like about it was when they where doing a lot of physical bullying that was really sad.

This book was easy for me to understand because this goes on in real life. I really enjoyed reading the book Blubber and I'm sure you will to!

Rating:
Summary: The Unfortunate Truth....
Review: I read this book years and years ago when I was about "Linda"'s age (I'm now 30) and it certainly hit home. In fact, I reread it a couple of years ago when I found it in a box of old books and the realism of Blume's fifth-grade world came flooding back. I was, unfortunately, one of the "fat kids" and, believe me, I received more than a bit of ridicule. And no, as is the case with Judy Blume's Wendy, those who inflicted the pain never got a "comeuppance" and, in fact, never seemed to think they had done wrong. Like "Linda", I was punished for looking the wrong way, breathing the wrong way and for generally just being there. The characters in this book are, unfortunately, very true to life and, for those readers who are disappointed in the curse words, that, too, is realistic. I vividly remember my sixth-grade vocabulary (and offended parents who don't think their kid would use them, well... just remember back). Granted, the book's tortuous subject and the characters' subsequent actions are enough to make a person sick but it is real... kids can be cruel and the scars they leave behind deep. And, though I haven't seen this brought into play in other reviews, it is clear that the adults in this book do little more than passively encourage the abuse of "Linda"... as I recall from my own disinterested educators, this is also an unfortunate reality. All in all, Blume has written a very honest depiction of the elementary school jungle and should be commended for it... warts and all. This book should serve as a wake-up call to more sensitive readers (possibly the bullies themselves), as well as the parents whose children are on the receiving end. It's a frankly honest portrayal of pre-teen behavior (although I will agree that Jill's parents are shallow and more than a little unrealistic). I would like to say, though, that for the kids who today feel like a "Linda"... you have my sympathy but believe me, things can get better. Several years after graduating high school, I ran into one of my worst tormentors - who not only had gained about 100 lbs. and now found himself in my former position, but sheepishly apologized for his past behavior. It was just too bad for him that, by then, his opinion no longer mattered to me; but I've often wondered why he finally apologized. Maybe he had finally read this book.

Rating:
Summary: People please wake up!
Review: I first read this book when I was 9 and loved it and laughed in spite of myself. I knew it was very mean and cruel. As I reached the climax I suddenly realized that what was happening in the book to the victims (Linda "Blubber" and later Jill) was happening to me all the time with my groups of friends from the time I started school! Even preschool and in neighborhood situations, sadly enough. I have been at the middle (like Jill) and bottom (like Blubber) of the pecking order in cliques so I know what it's like. I have been picked on, beat up, tortured, teased, bullied. I was shy and quiet but more outspoken then the passive Linda "Blubber" in the book.
The victim Blubber is portrayed as a bland character with not much to stay who lets people walk all over her so she becomes a victim.
A few of these reviews sound very mean and almost sick by saying this was a "funny book" about a group of animalistic kids ganging up on someone. I get the impression that those reviews were written by very young readers. I don't recommend this book for young readers at all because of that. They may not understand it. (believe me, i didn't entirely either when i first read it at 9 either!)Also readers too young to understand feelings of others may copy the bad things about the negative characters (Wendy and Carolyn, the follower) like I did at times when I was young (I felt bad about it later and found myslef on the receiving end afterwards). Also the fact that some may not like the idea of a somewhat un-satisfying ending which is disturbing to younger readers.
I didn't get the point at the time, but the reason Linda is singled out as a victim is not just due to her weight (although doing a report on a whale may have opened her up to ridicule), contrary to popular belief. If you read chapter 1 about when Jill introduces us to Linda as she is giving her whale report, you notice she just mentions Linda as the "pudgiest girl" in the class but says she's not the largest kid in the 5th grade; there's students who are fatter but not singled out as victims. So obviously that's not the thing that makes her the target. Apparently she's at the bottom of the pecking order because of her lack of personality and initiative.
Wendy the ringleader is this overpowering, very pushy, aggressive manipulator. I knew quite a few "Wendy"s in my time. They're the people in who are sorta the homewreckers in your circle of gradeschool friends. They disrupt the peace and break up your friendships by stealing your friends. This book sorta hit home with the issue of loyalties with childhoold friendships and friction between them. I admire Jill and Tracy for standing together. Tracy was so good to Jill even if she probably didn't always agree with what Jill's inappropriate behavior. I had a friend like Tracy who defended me when I was being bullied and kept track of my abusers to tell my mom so we could report it.
A lot of time the "Wendy"s get their way even with adults if they're allowed to. I knew a juvenile delinquent who beat me up and mostly got her way even when I ended up taking her to court on charges of harassment and battery.
One reviewer stated that there is nothing adults/teachers/principals/school authorities, etc. can do and please, please please listen. I hope y'all will please read this. I am not criticizing anyone but I've been to hell and back. Trust me and don't believe the lie that there's nothing they can do and it's just up to the individual. You can't do it alone and feel like an outcast. It is the teacher's job to protect you and they are getting paid anyway. It sickens me to think of all the teachers striking for months on end in some areas. Some do deserve it if they're good teachers but they aren't even working an 8-hr shift and get weekends and vacations, and what about the ones who won't protect their student's? They need to wake up and pay attention to what's going on around them in class. Teachers need to be tuned in to the students and be on the ball.
For this reason I'm glad Judy wrote this book because in jr high and high school I was harassed and wondered why! I was average size in grade school but picked on in jr high when i put on a few lbs. yet I'd see larger girls who apparently weren't victimized. I tried being loud and boisterous to be popular and that didn't work so I tried being quiet as a mouse and they still teased me--could not figure it out!! It wasn't the weight that was an issue! I read an interview with Judy Blume on Blubber and she explains that Linda was passive and kind of brought it on herself; She didn't stand up for herself. I was like that at times and needed to learn to do that. PLEASE do not fall for the lie that children "Ask for it". At school, very often when I'd go to teachers or principals for help and they acted uninterested, their response was that I must have done something to provoke the behavior. This is baloney. The truth is you have a right to an education free of harassment and torment. Some say it's just life and you can't expect much more but that is a crock. Life doesn't have to be like that! Believe me, I have had wonderful teachers who knew how to meet student's needs and teach respect and then again I've had bad teachers with no control and it was chaos. I've seen the good, bad and ugly so i'm not naive. I'm talking about a healthy learning environment. A teacher's job isn't simply to teach 2x2=4 and Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Think about it: 30 years from now; do you remember that stuff or are you more likely to remember the teacher who touched your life by making a difference with kind words, ect. it's more than just knowledge, it's about teaching the golden rule and respect.
I loved the book but I have mixed feelings about it so i can't classify it in one category.
One reviewer said that parents think this book is realistic and I certainly hope to God this isn't true because it happens all the time in school. Pay attention to what your children are doing and how the teachers are handling things. They say "kids can be cruel". Well that's true. Some pass it off as "kids being kids" but please. We need to train a child in the way they should go. Where are the parents and teachers who are supposed to teach them manners and respect? Instead they act like animals and hoodlums. They say this is just a sad fact of like but this is a fact that needs to be changed. One reviewer said that "apologies rarely come in real life". That's true. I was raised with "good breeding" and always taught manners and if children were taught from birth the civalized way maybe they wouldn't behave this way.
Like I said I wouldn't recommend to children under 12 and I'd read it with my kids and discuss feelings with my kids if I did.
Like a reviewer said, what comes around goes around. What you sow, you will reap. But what doesn't make sense in the story is Wendy the ringleader is the instigator of the Blubber business. Wendy is cruel and ruthless.If you read original editorial review, note that it was WENDY who passed the note that started the whole thing saying "Blubber is a good name for her" and Jill isn't even thinking of Linda at the time; she's preoccupied with thinking of her plans for Halloween. She doesn't get drawn into it till Linda talks about whale blubber in her report and Wendy starts to laugh. By then word gets spread and everyone is laughing. Jill becomes a willing participant but not the true leader. Not to excuse her; she's just as guilty. But we see how far one person's meanness can get spread. Wendy's influince is all over the class and effects even the principal. Oddly enough when the tables turn it's Jill who becomes the victim, not Wendy.
Wendy dosen't switch roles and remains the tormenter but Jill becomes victim and Wendy becomes her bully. Everyone begins ganging up on her. Linda isn't gracious towards Jill's gesture to sorta "rescue" her from the supply closet as Wendy's prisoner. Instead, Linda, a weak, subordinate character, becomes Wendy's "friend" and joins in the gang of tormenters who turn against the new victim, Jill.
This book lacks some emotional depth in that it fails to totally identify with Linda's feelings. People think of her as a zombie. But she's a person and we all have feelings. Jill's mom did tell her to put herself in Jill's position but the parents seem so distant in this book! My mom was much more involved! She'd say "How would Linda feel?" and more! Jill has no sympathy for Linda and when the tables turn just has sympathy for herself...
I was glad Judy wrote this book and it's a must-read some. It should be banned from some young readers though. It's a message that you can make a difference and you do have the power. It's not about a saccarine lala land. it's about doing your best!

Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: This book portrays the tradgedies that are occuring within the youth these days...the sad part is its not far from everyday life. I am a 12 year old and I see these kind of things happening all of the time.
In this book the main charcter is a girl named Jill. When the kids in her classroom want to have 'fun' they decide to call her blubber due to the fact that she is overweight. The main ring leader is a girl named Wendy who seems to be an honorable kid. People think that bullies are these unahppy kids. In reality they are more liekly to be "wendy". the girl who has everythign she wants and will use her power how ver she wants to.

This book is not a nice read for children. IT IS NOT FUNNY as some of the previous reviewers have said. You have to be shallow to find it funny. Its upsetting. Last time i read it I threw it into a fire in the middle i was so upset. Its sad but it will teach all of you shallow people to stop being such witches. The swearing isnt even bad so grow up parents!

Rating:
Summary: True to life
Review: Though many adults have christianed this book unrealistic and exaggerated, I think it's extremely true to life. I have never been in Linda's position, but I've seen it happening to kids all the time, just because of how they look. This book is told from 11-year-old Jill's point of view, a sixty pound scrawny girl who attends 5th grade at a public school. The kids in her class cruely torment and tease Linda. They even go so far as to lock her in a closet. Some people have complained about the swearing in this book, but there's barely any. I doubt there are more than fifteen swear words in this over 100 page book. Also, kids talk like that nowadays. The only problem witht this book is the end, where Linda just magically loses weight and she and Jill become friends, which probably wouldn't happen in real life.

Rating:
Summary: Blume has done it AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: This book is amazing! It is about a girl who is made fun of because she is overweight. Lots of kids are mean to her, and do awful tricks to make her cry. But it turns out in the end, this girl becomes powerful and ......................... READ THE BOOK TO FIND OUT!!!

Rating:
Summary: Judy Blume Endures
Review: I can remember as a child reading Judy Blume's books and Blubber was one of my favorites. Now, as an adult, I have read the book again and it is still one of my favorites (and my 4th grade daughter's favorite, too). Blume touches on a topic, specifically, bullying, and I suppose one of the reasons that some ignorant people still try to get this book banned is because they just can't believe that their child could ever be as mean as the girls are in this story. Children can and will be mean to each other and as a parent, it is our job to teach our children empathy. This book is great way to teach it. We can see how mean the other students are to Linda and then just as quickly we see how easily they can turn, like they did on our narrator, Jill. In the end, their is no resolution with the gang leader, Wendy or with Linda, but sometimes this is just how life is. Sometimes there are no silver linings, no pots of gold at the end of the rainbow, Judy Blume's book teaches this lesson in a way that children can relate to.

Rating:
Summary: 4 stars
Review: The main characters (Bullies) are 5 year olds and the victim was an overweight girl who did a report on whales and didnt know the kids in her class were making fun of her and they were calling her Blubber. In halloween Jill does a prank on someone and when she finds out the person who she had pranked on found out Wendy told her Blubber had told. Jill starts to find out that she and Wendy werent really friends nor was Wendy and Caroline.

Rating:
Summary: Blubber
Review: Blubber is a book about a girl who is always being called blubber because of her weight. And a girl who tells the story in her point of veiw. The girl makes fun off her too. During the story she relizes what she is doing. The message of the book is what goes around comes around.

Very good book. I liked it because of the way the girls act in the school. They cus sometimes just like kids do today. That's why it's so belevilbe. Judy blume makes this story come to life with characters from school. This book will leave you smiling.
I was suprised how interesting the book was. I could not put it down.I think that you sould read this book because it will tell you about bulling at schools and what it sometimes is like when it happens.

People(boys and girls) who go through bullying might find this book useful for them .Reding ability must be at average for ages
12-16

Rating:
Summary: JUST AWFUL
Review: I think in this day and age of school shootings this is a TERRIBLE book. This is how and why kids shoot each other,because they are made fun of.Not to mention the BAD langauge thats in it. I was APPALLED that my 3rd grader brought this book home from the library at school. I have since been to the princpal to have it REMOVED AT ONCE!!!!! Young children should NOT be exposed to such a HORRIBLE story