Blubber Book Review By Taylor F

BLUBBER




CITATION

Blume, Judy, Blubber, (New York: Random House Inc., 1974).



INTRODUCTION

For my first book review for this class, I read Judy Blume’s Iggie’s House and I liked it so much that I decided I would try another one of her books for my second review. As I had previously mentioned, I never read any of Judy Blume’s books. Blume is a hugely successful American author who has written numerous novels that span a variety of age groups and often address some of society’s most controversial topics. Blume’s books are often inspired by her own life. The previous book which I read, Iggie’s House, is focused on racism. The main theme in Blubber is bullying.



SUMMARY

The main setting for the book is a fifth grade classroom. Jill Brenner, a student in the class, is the main character. A pretty and popular girl in the class, Wendy, leads the entire class into bullying another student, Linda. Linda is overweight and is picked on both mentally and physically and is dubbed the nickname, “Blubber.” Jill follows along with the bullying until things get to a point where she decides that it’s just all ridiculous. Once that happens, Wendy, the pretty popular girl, quickly becomes friends with Linda (Blubber) and the focus for Wendy’s bullying is now on Jill.



This book would be ideal for late elementary and early middle school aged children and is probably best for students in grades four through six. It would be a great book for class discussions.



CRITICAL THINKING

BULLYING

As mentioned, the major theme of the book is bullying. Linda (Blubber) was given her nickname because she is overweight and she presented a project to the class on whales and described the thick layer of fat on whales as blubber. The bullying is extreme. Her house is toileted papered and silly string is sprayed all over. Her sidewalks are decorated in chalk with “Blubber.” In one incident, the girls trap her in the girls’ bathroom and hold her down. They strip her clothes off of her with said intentions of removing her fat from her body. Linda isn’t allowed to leave the bathroom until she curtsies to one girl and kisses another girl’s foot. It gets worse when the school nurse weighs all the girls and openly announces their individual weights, with additional public comments for Linda that she weighs too much. After that, the girls made Linda repeat the phrase, “I am Blubber, the Smelly Whale of Class 206,” before they would let Linda use the bathroom, eat her lunch, use the drinking fountain or get on the bus.



PERSONAL CHARACTER AND ADVERSITY

Another major theme in the book is how important it is to stand up for what is right. Although Jill goes along with the bullying, she often questions what is happening. Finally, when the class decides to have a trial to decide whether or not Linda (Blubber) told on Jill for playing a prank on a neighbor, Jill gets to the point that she’s had enough. During this awful trial, Linda (Blubber) is forced into a closet and locked inside when she doesn’t want to participate. When Wendy denies Linda a lawyer, Jill realizes that Wendy really isn’t a nice or fair person and she decides to stand up to Wendy. When she does that, everything changes. Friendships are torn apart and former enemies soon become friends. Wendy is still as mean as ever, but now leads the class into bullying Jill. Even Linda (Blubber) is an eager participant and she and Wendy become best friends. Jill doesn’t regret what she has done and her long –time friendship with Tracy, who is another classroom, grows even stronger as Jill realizes that Tracy is and has always been a good person and a good friend.



RACISM

Wendy, the master at bullying, also involves race as a target. When Tracy, Jill’s friend, says something that Wendy doesn’t like, Wendy later retaliates by referring to Tracy, as Jill’s “chink friend.” This, of course, further helps Jill to realize that Wendy is not a good person and not someone that she wants to be friends with.



FINAL THOUGHTS

This book was written in the 1970s, and bullying is still an issue in schools today, nearly 35 years after it was written. When I read the book, I could relate to the main character, Jill, and even at times, to the bullied student, Linda. However, I was extremely surprised at far the bullying went, especially when it involved physical contact. It was even more shocking to me that nearly all the bullying took place at school. I can’t imagine a nurse today making announcements and public comments regarding a student’s weight. Although I am well aware, that bullying is still a hot topic today, it seems like it is much less tolerated at school and by society. It also seems like today’s bullying has taken new shapes and forms, with so much focus on today’s cyber-bullying, which of course wasn’t part of 1970’s society.