Blubber

Rating:
Summary: they should make a movie out of this book.
Review: At first when I bought this book, I thought that it was going to have the same characters as Fudge-A-Mania, SuperFudge and Tales of the 4th Grade Nothing (which I think was Judy Blume's best book) but it turned out to be different, this book is about Linda Fischer, who constantly gets bullied by Wendy, who gets away with certain pranks and you don't wanna cross the line with her, and her fellow classmates joined in as well, later Linda's nickname is 'Blubber' and one time during a music rehearsal Wendy tells everybody to sing breast but 'Blubber' and the whole class was laughing and the music teacher Miss Rothbelle got really angry and she made them stay after school the following day, later on in the book Jill Brenner (the straight laced Character) finally stood up to Linda by telling Wendy that she's tired of her bossing everybody around and that made Wendy so mad that even she became friends with Linda just to torment Jill and she makes the whole class call Jill 'Baby Brenner' and least of all, nobody expected to see where the fun ended least of all Jill and nobody picked on Jill or Linda at the end of the book.

Overall the ending seemed to be a bit short but if you love story books, then you'll like Blubber.

Rating:
Summary: captures youth perfectly
Review: Although I'm a grown woman, I fondly remember this book from my youth and very much identified with it. Although my struggle was not with weight, the kind of teasing, ostracizing and often cruelty received from other classmates is completely on the mark. This is an excellent book for kids of junior high age in particular to read, because that's where I had the worst teasing from classmates: You're not mature, yet you think you are. Reading this will hopefully make a person remember to treat others as you would like to be treated. It's amazing to attend your 20-year high school reunion and see things so differently! About yourself and your classmates.

Rating:
Summary: Save yourself! Don't read this book!
Review: I can't believe I didn't put this book down at one point or another. It's really stupid. The book has weak characters and they aren't very smart. A girl named Linda (a.k.a. Blubber) is bullied around by Jill and her friends (I think those are the names, I kind of forgot.) These people seem to think it's entertaining. It's unrealistic, because they never get caught. After awhile, the bullying is directed at Jill. I'm pretty sure that the author wanted the reader to feel sorry for Jill, but I judt didn't feel it. I was practically laughing my head off at her. She was so stupid. This book was really bad but it should've come to a wrap-up close. I mean, one moment you were reading about somebody's stupid problems, and then it just sorta ended. I'm not a big Judy Blume fan anyways, but this was just terrible. If I could give it ZERO stars, than I would. Just please don't read this. The characters are weak, the plot is really predictable and I couldn't care less about it, and the lesson to be learned was really lame.

Rating:
Summary: This book is NOT for boys!!!
Review: The book "Blubber" by Judy Blume is a wonderful book. I do not recommend this book to a boy. The book talks about boys and girls in their perteens. In the of chapters it talk's a lot about blubber. In the beginning first sentences it is talking about best friends. They are Tracy and Jill. There should be a chapter called Blubber. After giving a presentation, Linda went next her topic wich was whales, and about their bubber (fat). after giving that presentation everybody was calling her blubber.
When I read this book my feelings were funny, to be
respectful, and having responsibility. After I was done reading this book I was thinking about Judy, and how she was writing this
book, she probably had a lot of funny things in her mind, because
like I said, "This book is funny!" I think my best friend acts like Tracy and Jill sometimes, BAD. On Halloween, Tracy and Jill
went to William F. Machinist's house and put a raw rotten egg in
his mailbox, but my best friend and I would never do that. When
they were done Mr. Machinist took a picture of them when they
were putting the raw egg in the mailbox and they got punished.
You have to read the book to see what happened Tracy and Jill. I
think this book is so good that it should get a seal, that mean's a book prize. If you want to read this book go to the library and have fun reading this book.

Rating:
Summary: The Golden Rule Comes To Play In Real Life
Review: Blubber by Judy Blume was a great example of how the
golden rule should be used in real life. Jill, her friends,
and her classmates pick on a chubby, overweight girl,
named Linda. Instead of refering to her by using her
name they call her Blubber. The kids start to call Linda
blubber after she gives a report on whale fat (blubber).
In the middle of the book the kids put Blubber on trial
for accusations that she did something to Jill. When
Blubber does not get a lawyer the unexpected happens.
Jill comes to her defense. Jill realizes how awful it is
when you are not treated fairly. Jill decides that
something must be done. In my opinion in this book the
reader learns to treat people the way they want to be
treated. Jill and her class find that when respect is
shown to everyone things tend to work out for the whole.
I highly recommend this book to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: Scarily accurate
Review: This book hits very close to home for me, as I imagine it would for anyone who was cruelly teased by their classmates.

Blume takes the unusual -- and brave -- tack of having her narrator/protagonist Jill be one of the people who picks on Linda Fischer. Therefore, Jill isn't terribly sympathetic. She is, however, very realistic. So is Wendy, who is established early on as more or less running the fifth-grade classroom. Jill says that "everyone knows you don't cross Wendy."

The inaction of the adults, who as another reviewer noted pretty much condone the cruelty of the children, is, unfortunately, how adults generally act in the face of such things, although Jill's mother shows that she is well aware of classroom pecking orders when Jill tells her about Linda and how she lets everyone walk all over her (one gets the impression that Jill feels at least some pity for her, albeit pity heavily mixed with disgust at Linda's passivity). Jill's mother warns her that the tables can turn in an instant and she could find herself in Linda's position. Jill exclaims she'll never be in Linda's position, to which her mother sagely -- and presciently -- replies: "Don't be too sure."

And what do you know, the tables do turn and Jill does find herself in Linda's position after -- you guessed it -- crossing Wendy. Her classmates are every bit as cruel to her as they, and she, were to Linda. However, unlike Linda, Jill fights back, and ends up in more or less the same place she was at the beginning, wiser if not sadder.

Blume does an excellent job of capturing the politics of a fifth-grade classroom, as well as the snarky wit of an eleven-year-old girl (Jill's assessment of the loathsome Miss Rothbelle is hilarious). The love/hate relationship between Jill and her brother Kenny is also well done. And Jill's tearful second conversation with her mother, after she has been pushed to the bottom of the pecking order, is excellent; her mother offers her comfort unsullied by any pity.

Rating:
Summary: "They wanted to see how far they could go."
Review: After giving an oral report on whales, Linda Fischer (one of the more overweight students in Jill Brenner's fifth-grade class) earns the nickname "Blubber" and is constantly picked on by her classmates. The routine name-calling and bullying gradually escalate to violence, but by the end of the book, the roles of Linda and Jill (the protagonist) are unexpectedly reversed, and Jill soon finds herself ostracized by her peers and teased just as relentlessly as Linda had been.

Although Blubber isn't my favorite Judy Blume book, I'd still recommend it to 9 to 12-year-olds girls. It illustrates how heartless and cruel children can be, especially when they thoughtlessly give in to peer pressure like Jill did. Most people can relate to this story, whether they were the one being bullied in school or someone who just witnessed it. However, like many of Blume's books, "Blubber" is somewhat plotless, and there's very little resolve by the end. Still, I thought this book was realistic and a fine example of how picking on someone can backfire.

Rating:
Summary: Helped me through my own childhood teasing
Review: When I was little, I was also "different" from my clasmates, and I found tremendous solace in the pages of this well-loved children's classic.

The story centers around a young girl named Linda who is teased because of her weight and another girl's growing experience as she learns it is not as fun to be on the receiving end of such "attention".

Even though the reason for my teasing was something other than weight, I strongly identfied with Linda and her struggle to get through a school populated by judgemental, cruel and rude classmates. Blume does a superb job of capturing the loneliness and angst faced by the young protagonist--at times it feels like the reader is actually in the scenes of the book.

The only issue I had with the book was the fact that Linda and Jill apparently became friends at the end of the book. Considering the plot of the story up to this point (and the far more painful impact of intensive childhood teasing) I did not think this portion of the story fit in with what Blume was apparently trying to accomplish. Again borrowing from my own background, I know I was not in a particulary forgiving mood to people who subjected me to teasing--and I did not think Linda should forgive and forget either.

Unlike much Children's litterature which is condescending and sugary-sweet (ie kids never do anything bad to each other, or if they do, it is something minor) Blume has always taken great pains to speak to their readers about the realities of life in age-appropriate language and issues. Yes, it is more somber than most of the non-science fiction children's litterature reccently coming out, but well worth the read.

Rating:
Summary: Frightening
Review: I read this book when I was in 3rd grade. When I first read it, I really liked it. But then as time went on, I suddenly began to wonder: Could the things in this book happen to me? And if it did, how would I handle it? Who would I tell? How could I ever go back to living my life after enduring the cruelty? Yes, it's only a story. But the things that happen in the book (teased because of weight, violence in bathrooms, threats from girls, being degrated, locked in a closet, etc) really do happen. And it happens everyday, to millions of kids. And teachers rarely make it end. And even if they do, the emotional scars aren't healed. And that tension is still in the air when you pass by the bullies. You can almost taste it. I strongly recommend that you DON'T buy this book for your children. It will just make them disturbed, scared, and worried....

Rating:
Summary: Bullies Alert!
Review: The book Blubber was written by Judy Blume. It was about a group of mean girls who made fun of a fat kid named Linda. Jill is one of the main characters who makes fun of Linda. She is mean and on Halloween Jill dresses up as a flenser. A flenser is a person who takes the skin off whales. Jill took Linda's clothes off in the bathroom too, and not in a booth! Jill and her best friend Tracy put rotten eggs in Linda's mailbox and they get punished. Their punishments is to rake up all the leaves in Linda's backyard (she has like fifty trees in her yard). Find out if Linda and Jill become friends. I think that you should read this book because it is exciting and funny! (It teaches a lesson too!)