Blubber

I have read some negative reviews about this book and can't quite understand what they are complaining about. This book gives you different views of a person being bullied. Wether your apart of it, quiet in a corner, being bullied or the one the table gets turned on. Wendy did get her due justice (not the way we may have wanted), she was called out in front of her minions. By calling her out, and making the others think for themselves, stopped the tirade of this little queen and her minions. This showed children that you can speak up, and yes there will be painful repercussions but you can surpass that too. What there afraid of will happen, but this is what you can do. Not so simple, but possible. As parents we need to at times be a friend and remember what it was like as children. Doing so will help us relate better and hopefully make our children trust and feel comfortable when coming to us. I had a Wendy, a teacher who didn't like Polynesian kids, and would not do anything to My Wendy because of her father's influence. Luckily for me my family that said (those against violence will not like this, but I don't care) "if someone causes trouble to you, tell the teacher,if the teacher does nothing tell the principal and if they still don't do nothing knock em out." Well I told the teacher, I was ignored and was punished. Sent to the principals office because I reported it again and was told "she accidently hit you with a fork, she's very sorry." Humm tell that to my cracked lip, or the scars from pencils being jabbed into my arm. Enough was enough and I clocked her, her friends and her stupid guy friends. Best part was, when our families were called to meet, my family stood behind me. I knew then I was safe, and as long as I stood up for what was right, I had nothing to fear. So if you still feel I acted like a barbarian, I'll send you a picture of a 4 prong scar that was given to me by My Wendy, because I wouldn't give her my homework. This book gives you avenues to approach bullying, and hopefully opens the eyes of those who see it or are doing it. To say you want this book banned or that your child is afraid now after reading this book. It's your job to reassure them, it's your job to make sure they are not a Wendy, it's your job to educate children and adults to stop this viciousness, but it's not your job to take away the choice to read this book. Your child do as you please, but butt out on the opportunity for others to have a choice/chance. If you are a child being bullied, or even an adult, speak up, screw them and live.

My daughter loves this book

Judy Blume's books were a staple of my childhood reading. Her books were so relevant to us at the time and she was actively publishing during my childhood. I remember reading Blubber when I was in about the 4th grade and really felt like I related to Linda because I was that chunky girl in my class. In fact, the title of this book likely did encourage some of the kids to give me the same moniker, though I somewhat ignored them. And I also sort of related to Jill and her friends, because I know I was a part of making fun of other children as well. Fast forward to me being a middle-aged adult. I almost cringe reading this now. Narrator Jill is much nastier about Linda than I remember reading when I was a kid. If that isn't bad enough, I can hear her words in my own voice, reminding me of how mean I could also be as a kid. [I feel like we all had our moments.] And I don't think it hit me as hard back then how bullied Jill was as well, particularly for not following along with Wendy and her crew all the time. I'd like to think that in the past several years, we've been working on teaching children to act better. But the problem continues to persist, at least as bad as depicted in this story. For the first time, I realized that this book also tackles children bullying adults, as they go after their neighbor, Mr. Machinist, on Halloween. This is something that we don't often think about when we are talking about kids and how they treat others. And then there is my teacher side. I've been an educator my entire adult life. It also hurts me to see teachers portrayed as not noticing the bullying going on. And yet, I know that's a sad fact of life, even today. I like to think that I'm more on top of it than my peers in the field. But I also work with younger children, so it's different. Even worse is how some of the teachers are also doing some of the bullying. I know everyone would like to think that teachers don't do that, but I continue to witness some appalling behavior and comments out of teachers to this day. But I'm glad that it hurts and has an impact on me, even as an adult. It just proves to me that this book is still important. Bullying is sadly an ongoing issue among children [and adults], and something that I'm not sure we'll ever completely eradicate. But reading a book like this could easily provoke some good conversations between adults and children. Some children may recognize themselves in the story, which is also important. My hope is that they would be more aware of their own words and actions and make the appropriate adjustments.

Love Judy's books. My 11yr old niece is a collector. So good! Her topics are right on point.

I remember reading this as a child. This author has a way of making these stories fit every young girls experiences.

This book is narrated by Jill Brenner, a lively fifth-grader. Linda, one of her classmates, gets stuck with the nickname "Blubber"after she gives a science report on whales, even though she is not the fattest kid in the class. Led by Wendy, the nasty class "leader", the kids make Linda's life miserable-and eventually the taunting escalates into actual violence. Jill joins in-although not wholeheartedly-and the climax of the story occurs when she is forced to choose between hurting Linda and doing the right thing. This is an excellently crafted story. Ms Blume accurately catches the speech patterns and actions of everyday kids, and she also creates a counterweight to the disturbing aspects of this story with scenes from Jill's life. These chapters are very funny; and they are filled with memorable characters. These vignettes keep the story from becoming relentlessly depressing. Although this book was intended for a youthful audience, I feel it is interesting and substantial enough for adults as well.

Blubber is one of judy blume's best books,it is an awesome novel for many chirdren,but most pupils under 9 might find the text confusing. Also there is a slight use of cursing so I suggest this book is only read from ages 9-14 other than that Blubber is a novel that will be passed on for generations and might someday become a classic because of it's heart-felt text and connections to real everyday life. -Nicole Parker (check out my web cite at #AMAZINGBOOKS.ORG AND FOLLOWING ME ON FACEBOOK <3 (; (:!!!!!!!!!!

Bullying is a problem in both school and the workplace, and not reading about it won't make it go away. A lot of parents expressed concern over their children reading this, as the ten-year-old cast cusses and uses violence. The swearing is rather mild (although at one point the protagonist calls the teacher a "b**ch" at one point and if that bothers you as a parent you may want to skip this one), and the violence is important. Every child should read this around the age of ten or eleven. As a student teacher, if I'd had a chance to teach older kids, I would have liked to talk over bullying from this book, and get some insight. Why is this book so important? It's a harsh, realistic look at how bullying works. Bullies target people who stand out, but then only continue if the victim doesn't know how to stand up for themselves. The book illustrates that you have to stand up for yourself and that telling adults often doesn't work if you don't put in any effort to stop it yourself. And every other kid will join in on the bullying in order to not get picked on. The narrator of this book pretends to think the bullying is funny and willingly joins in, but the minute she stands up to the leader, everyone turns on her instead. And she stands up for herself, refuses to let herself be a victim and the kids leave her alone after a few days. An interesting point - the narrator's mother tells her to laugh off the taunts, but although that's good advice, this actually doesn't work. She tries it, and they just keep saying horrible things about her and keep calling her a baby. It's only when she sticks up for herself that the bullying stops by refusing to play the game the way the main bully wants. Every child should read this because they need to know about the effect of bullying both on the victim and anyone else. Bullies often don't think of themselves as bullies - they just find pleasure in picking on people who can't or don't know how to stand up for themselves. We need people to discuss this, to give your child an insight into what it means and what you should do, whether you're a class leader, a victim, or a bystander. A note - Judy Blume wrote this after her daughter experienced this. She was a bystander, who hated what was happening but was afraid to stand up to the bully. Even if this isn't happening on such a big scale everywhere, chances are it happens at some point in every school. We need to address it, and every child who gets a chance to talk about this book will be one step closer to ending it.

Llego con rapidez

The book came to me really nicely packed in bubble wrap and everything. I had ordered it on 2nd March and got it on 3rd March which made me really happy. Quality-5/5. About the book, it's pretty thin as it is meant for, I think, fifth-sixth graders. The font was rather large which made it really easy to read. You can read it in 2-3 hours or less if you're a fast reader. I also really liked the cover, I find it cute though the book is far from cute. I know it is clearly meant for younger readers and I'm in 9th grade right now, but I really wanted to read this book from a long time because, you know, the author is Judy Blume. She is a phenomenal writer and her books are amazing. So, it is about Jill Brenner who is in 5th grade and how she and her friends Wendy,Tracy, Caroline and the whole class basically bully and torment their classmate Linda. Linda is overweight and they relentlessly tease her about her physique and call her " A Smelly Whale". They call her "Blubber" which is the fat that lies under the skin of whales. Not only this, but far, FAR worse things that you won't imagine kids would do. I felt really sorry for Linda who had to take all the humiliation and she is a scared little girl and I hated how she couldn't stand up for herself . Not that I blame her because the whole class was against her and overpowering her was pathetically easy. At first, Jill is reluctant to join in the teasing, but afterwards she becomes a part of that bullying to 'fit in' with her classmates which saddened and angered me to no extent. It is the type of book that will make you hate the protagonist at some point. It is indeed very easy and enjoyable to be the one who is bullying and laughing, but having the joke on you will make you question, "What did I do to deserve this?" So when the bullies' next target is Jill herself, she sort of understands how it's like to have a taste of the other side. It contains a little profanity which some people say is inappropriate for children's books. But it is real, children in 5th-6th grade swear, I know it by experience. I don't mind it at all, rather it makes the book all the more realistic. All in all, I think the book was a bit distressing but extremely honest, which is something that I can seldom say about the other books in this genre. I really liked the book. I would really like to recommend this books to pre-teens (if they are okay with the swear words, of course). Judy Blume's books are very real, and fun to read. She is one of my favourite authors of all time and every reader should have her books on his/her bookshelf.

These new editions are hard to find in stores so I was super happy to find it on Amazon. Great pre teen/teen read. Highly recommend.