Blubber by Judy Blume

Blubber. Judy Blume. Yearling, c1974. 153 pages.

Plot:

Judy Blume’s Blubber is told from the point of view of Jill Brenner, an average fifth grade girl. When one of Jill’s classmates, an awkward and overweight girl named Linda, gives an oral report on the whale and references the whale’s “blubber,” another classmate, Wendy, passes a cruel note around the class. “Blubber is a good name for her!” (Blume, 1974, p.5), the note says. Wendy is clever and very popular and for these reasons Jill laughs at the note, even though she doesn’t find it particularly funny. Unfortunately for Linda, the name sticks and most of Mrs. Minish’s class (including Jill) joins Wendy in bullying “Blubber.” However, when Jill finds herself the victim of Wendy’s cruelty, she learns what it’s like to be on the other side of the bullying.

Review/personal thoughts:

Though I had read Blubber once when I was a tween, I found the novel almost shocking the second time around. Jill, Wendy, and the others in Mrs. Minish’s class positively terrorize poor Linda. They physically assault, humiliate, and threaten her on a daily basis. In one particularly disgusting incident, Jill, Wendy, and Wendy’s best friend Caroline meet Linda in the girls’ bathroom. While Wendy and Caroline hold her still, Jill begins to strip Linda’s clothes off of her.

While reading Blubber, I found myself aching to intervene and help Linda and felt little to no warmth towards Jill as a character. However, when Jill grows tired of obeying Wendy’s every command and stands up to her, she finds herself the class’ new target. This was an important turn in the plot, as it illustrates to readers how quickly the tables can turn. Though Jill had once been one of Linda’s main tormentors, and had thus gained Wendy’s acceptance, she loses this acceptance as soon as she asserts her independence. Wendy and Linda then team up in bullying Jill, referring to her as “Baby Brenner.” 

Jill’s relationship with Wendy is juxtaposed with her relationship with her best friend, Tracy Wu, in the novel. While Jill must perform for Wendy in order to gain her acceptance, Tracy and Jill can sit and be quiet together; “best friends don’t have to talk all the time” (Blume, 1974, p.133). Their relationship is revealed in the novel as one based on true friendship.

Judy Blume’s Blubber is an important novel for tweens to read as it showcases the often secret and shameful problem of bullying. Though Jill is initially the bully, she winds up the one being bullied in the end and discovers the affect her behavior has had on Linda. Blubber also reveals her relationship with Wendy as both manipulative and destructive, and demonstrates true friendship in her relationship with Tracy.

Genre: contemporary realistic fiction

Reading level: ages 9-12

Awards: 

Arizona Young Readers Award

Young Reader’s Choice Award, Pacific Northwest Library Association, 1977

North Dakota Children’s Choice Award, 1983