Blubber

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

Jill is in the fifth grade; she's a good student who talks too much and at the wrong time in class. She's working hard to break her nail-biting habit, and she deplores her younger brother's annoying habit of constantly quoting from the Guinness Book of Records. At school, she follows the lead of the class bully in repeatedly humiliating a chubby classmate, nicknaming her Blubber. Jill and her best friend, Tracy, put rotten eggs in a neighbor's mail box at Halloween because they think he's an old grouch.

Children's books are typically morality tales; that's why we know at the outset that Jill is going to triumph in her struggle with nail-biting, that she is going to develop a loving appreciation of her brother, she will realize the harm of her bullying and apologize and become friends with her besieged classmate, and that she and Tracy will discover their grouchy neighbor is a kind old man who still grieves for the loss of his beloved wife. But that's not what happens.

Maybe it's because Judy Blume's story formula imitates reality, or maybe it's because this story is reality (based on a true incident in her daughter's fifth-grade class), but the story does not unfold as the expected morality tale. Jill does free herself from her unhealthy relationship with Wendy, the class bully, but she chews off all her fingernails in the process. She and Tracy do have to make amends to their grouchy neighbor, and in the process Jill's father discovers that their neighbor really is a mean-spirited child hater. And Jill and the rest of her classmates eventually do stop harassing Linda ("Blubber"), but no one apologizes to the girl who seems always to be wearing a kick-me sign.

Blume's characters take some getting used to -- a mother who sneaks cigarettes while she's trying to stop smoking, a father who yells at the top of his lungs to get obedience, and children who are allowed to use bad language at home, with the off-hand warning that they need to use good sense about using it in public. So maybe the moral in Blume's books is that something is always going wrong and something is always going right, life goes on, and we usually learn something from our mistakes. Whatever her message, children of all ages have been flocking to her books since the first one was published in 1969.

The story is surrounds the experiences of being a bully and being bullied by them. The main character is Jill, who is in the group of girls who bullies this girl, Linda who they dubbed as "Blubber" because of her essay about whales. It grew from just an inside joke to the rest of their peers, making Linda's life a living hell.

I spent reading this book emotionally. I actually feel like wringing some of the characters' necks! This would be one of the good books out there to introduce to the kids the problem of bullying and how to handle them in such a young age. Nevertheless the ending is kind of disturbing to be since there doesn't seem to be a justification to the story itself. The adults too doesn't seem to be much involved in trying to work out the bullying problem, which is kind of a shame. Nevertheless it's a good read.

In most books marketed for 9-12 year olds, school is generally described as an enriching atmosphere populated by colourful characters. Not so with Blubber. Almost all the characters (including Jill, the narrarator) are selfish, sometimes even mean, and they make life a living hell for Linda, "the pudgiest girl in the class." Blume writes realistically and passionately, urging adults and teachers to be on the lookout for signs of bullying. Her writing about cruelty in the classroom is unemotional, as seen through the eyes of Jill, the passive observer.

As a family story, Blubber has little to offer, but as a school story it is exceptional. The classroom seems like a real place, with all of the little details of the fifth grade drawn clearly and accurately. Blume must have an amazing memory to be able to recreate a time and atmosphere from so long ago.

I wouldn't recommend this book to obese children, it would probably just make them feel horrible. This book is not a guide for dealing with obesity, or even bullying. Instead, it is a realistic portrayal of fifth grade dynamics. Kids should be able to recognize several of the characters in their own classrooms, and will hopefully gain insight on how important it is to sometimes sacrifice popularity in order to do the right thing. Blubber was published about 30 years ago, and maybe it's just me, but it seems that kids are better behaved these days. Or maybe, like Wendy, they are just adept at hiding inappropriate behaviour from adults. I hope the former is true.

Seriously a must read for school kids. I, myself was an avid reader of Judy Blume when I was a kid. I can remember most of her books off the top of my head. And her stories resonate with people of all ages all over the country. One of the best children's author ever.

this book was okay. i liked it because it has an unexpected ending, and because it really does portray what school life is like for kids, and bullying, even though this book was written in the '70s.

and i didnt like it because?? i didnt like the characters, mostly. its one of the worst things when you dont really like the main, first person character. i really didnt like jill. she was rude, and she did really mean things like she wanted to annoy her brother. my favorite part was the bar mitzvah when linda and her brother kenny stand up to her. I liked Kenny. He was intelligent and dealt with Jill's extremely annoying behavior well.

I have to start out with the disclaimer that I have not read this book in at least eight years, perhaps longer. But now that I've come across people rating it with one or two stars simply because there is no happy, moralistic, pat ending, I feel some justification of Blume's choice is needed. As a child, I was teased and ignored a great deal in elementary school. This wasn't because of abnormal weight (I was quite skinny, actually, and small), but because I was an intellectual who would have rather read and written in my journal than played games, etc. with the other children in my class. Teachers often had no idea how to handle the situations of outright shunning and verbal cruelty that often came my way, but why should they? They weren't the ones experiencing it, so they could have no clue as to how deeply it hurt, even though, like most kids, I told myself stubbornly that I didn't give a damn what they said, or thought, of me. The fact that this story has no beautifully resolved ending speaks directly to the idea that Judy Blume most likely experienced some of this degrading crap as a child, which gives the book an authentic ring.

I remember reading this book in the fifth grade, and found it to be a very accurate portrayal of how young kids ("tweens," if you will, although that term didn't exist at the time) view themselves and each other, and act according to those views. Some people feel diasappointed that the "ringleader" bully never got her comeuppance. Others were surprised that the "victim" (who was called "Blubber" because she was a little chubby) wasn't a very sympathetic character herself. And people didn't like the main character who was narrating the story either. But when I was growing up, none of us did (or still do) fit into neat little boxes of "good guys" and "bad guys," with the "good guys" winning some great reward in the end, and the "bad guys" getting a clear punishment. (Happens in movies allthe time, but not in real life, and definitely NOT in the fifth grade.) This book isn't about whether bullying is right or wrong, and should victims be vindicated and the bullies "get theirs" in the end -- it's about the choices we make, whether as preteens or adults. Will we follow in other people's footsteps to do evil? Or will we have the courage to stand up to them? If the bully suddenly decides to befriend us, and pick on someone else instead, will we then join them, and do the same that was done to us?
It's never easy to confront a bully, especially when you yourself aren't the target -- the whole, "it's not my business so I won't get involved and risk bringing the same trouble to myself" thing -- and then there's the thrill of "fitting in" when you actually do join the group and take part in the bullying -- the whole "everybody's doing it and I'm just thankful they're not doing it to me" mentality. It's much harder to actually do the right thing, take a stand and say: "this is wrong." All of the book's characters have to make these choices, and how that plays out -- and the results of the choices each of them makes -- is what makes "Blubber" so thrilling, thought-provoking, and painfully realistic.
(p.s. Did anyone notice how there was another fat kid in Blubbler's class -- much fatter than her, even -- but he was a boy, and nobody picked on him? I thought Ms. Blume was making a very good point about the fact that a person's physical or mental attributes don't necessarily make someone a target for bulling, but rather if they seem like the type who won't fight back. It was also a pretty clear statement about the double-standards girls and women have to deal with regarding physical appearance!)

I read this book over and over in fifth grade, much to the chagrin of my school librarian. It is a vivid illustration of how cruel kids can be to each other, especially the kid who is "different" or "wierd" or to the kid who stands up to the leader of a powerful clique as Jill finds out. Poor Linda! I wonder how she stood it. Now that I think of it, this book reminds me of another book "The Against Taffy Sinclair Club" where kids gang up on a classmates and victimize her. Too many adults dismiss this sort of thing as "just innocent" fun and laugh at it. But in reality, this is much more serious and the kid who is victimized will often remember it for a lifetime.

I've heard that Judy Blume is one of the best authors for children's books. When I saw Blubber at my local library, I decided to pick it up for a quick read.
When I started reading it, was surprised to find that the narrator was one of the bullies. The description gave me the impression that she was a bystander, a person observing the bullying. I cringed at everything she said to her target, and felt for "Blubber". Throughout the book, I waited and waited for the narrator to finally straighten up and defend the kid being bullied. But it never happened until the final chapter or two.
It was great that the main character finally changed, but I felt a little disappointed by the book, and did not feel the book ended very well. I feel like there should have been more chapters.
This book has some pretty extreme forms of bullying, and some unrealistic parts. For example, every time the teacher would leave the classroom, kids would gang up on "Blubber" and bully her. I don't really think that in real life the kids in the class would have so many opportunities to torture her.
All in all, Judy Blume writes fine, but the story line was not so good.

This very important book dealt with the theme of acceptance and peer pressure, and the terrible stress and sadness that surrounds being the outcast. What's cool is that the book is told from the point of view of one of the people who helps make "the fat girl" feel outcast, but she eventually comes to understand her and befriend her. I didn't relate to being one of the mean girls, but I did know what it feels like to feel bad for an unpopular classmate and want to be their friend. (I was never a popular kid, but I didn't really get teased so much as ignored because I was quiet.) Reading about some of the things the mean kids did to Linda made my stomach hurt, though. It had a good lesson and a good ending, but reading about bullying is sometimes very hard for me.

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!)

At points this book was tough for me to read. It was

like living through that time in my life again, something I'd never do. Once was enough!

Everyone has to have their best friends, and the people they pick on. Not everyone is the same, and those who are different get picked on.This book was very heartwrenching, but also very realistic.

I liked the realness of this book, although I don't like the ideas it may give innocent child. This reviewer

is giving this book a total of five stars:)

Jill is a typical fifth grade girl who finds herself caught up in the cruel bullying of Linda (whom the class dubs "Blubber") through her fear of the bossy, cool Wendy. There is something about Linda that just makes everyone want to pick on her, according to Jill. Meanwhile, Jill also eggs her mean neighbor on Halloween, because he deserves it. What will happen when Jill finds herself in Linda's place? Will the fifth grade class learn their lesson? Blume perfectly captures the voice, mind, and motivation (a shallow sense of right and wrong, of little true motivation, a lack of empathy or consequence) of fifth graders, along with their characters, and the horrific world of bullying and victimization. Grade: A-

I'm in the sixth grade and guess what? Real life is like this book! In fact, in my class, it's been like that for a while now. Adults may think it is cruel, mean, even horrifying how badly Wendy and all of the others treat Linda, but in reality, thousands of kids are tormented and teased everyday, and not just for being overweight. The teacher and parents in this book did act a little naive, but I got Judy Blume's point. I also can understand Jill, the bystander who gets pulled into the teasing of Linda. Wendy never gets what she deserves, but that is also a lesson that teachers and faculty should punish children like her. Overall, I thought this was an excellent book and totally got Judy Blume's point. I picked up this book because it was by Judy Blume and was not disappointed.
Oh, and about the swears. Have you ever heard a conversation between two 11 or 12 year olds? Kids swear a lot these days.

Jill thinks it's funny when all the fifth-grade girls gang up on Linda, an unpopular overweight classmate. She even contributes the nickname "Blubber," courtesy of a class report on whales given by Linda herself.

But the tables turn when Jill suddenly finds herself on the wrong end of the girls' cruelty...with even Linda herself seeming to forget what she's just experienced, and joining in the torment on Jill.

This book is a page-turningly perfect depiction of the cruelty of adolescent girls, sadly unavoidable in most classrooms across the country and the decades...

I'm unsure what to think about this book. This and "Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret" are the two titles everyone associates with Blume. I didn't know what it was about going in. YA titles often have bizarre names mostly to intrigue the reader, like "How to Eat Fried Worms" and "My Teacher is an Alien". Not this one.

Going in blind, I was allowed to judge the characters with impartiality. The main character, Jill, starts as whiny and spoiled, and doesn't get any better when she starts targeting the title character (a fat girl).

The bullying is instigated by ringleader Wendy, and the things she and Jill (and others) do to "Blubber" are absolutely atrocious, like trapping her in the bathroom and attempting to strip her. The story culminates in a mock trial of "Blubber" that becomes too unfair not to protest. For her insolence, Jill becomes the bullied. The story ends with friendships manipulated and changed, as often happens in elementary school.

When I realized the story was about bullying, and that the bully is the protagonist, I wasn't sure how to react. I had automatic lack of sympathy for her, which I can't believe Blume didn't expect. Then I started thinking, is this a cautionary tale? A walk in the other person's shoes? No, because the reader doesn't understand why Jill started bullying, or anyone in fact, and there's no consequences from it. Is it like "The Great Gatsby" where you're not supposed to sympathize with the characters but observe the decline and fall?

And I can't help reading this book without applying what we now know about bullying and girls. I'm not saying the book is out of date. Far from it, it's actually close to home. But you've also got more knowledge on the subject like Queen Bees and Wannabes, cyberbullying, school shootings, bullycide, causes of bullying, interventions, scapegoating, and so on.

Jill's bully persona doesn't match her non-school persona (she collects stamps, for God's sake). The bully's perspective didn't feel plausible (a book that did do it well was the sequel to "My Teacher is an Alien"). And in the book, it never goes beyond the circle of girls. The events feel disconnected, like "a bunch of stuff that happens".

I guess my two biggest complaints are that, except for Jill, we never get out of the bully cliche (even though Blume says she wrote this based on what was going on her daughter's class at the time -- maybe this is the kind of stuff that actually happens to girls and not boys). It's more about the instances of bullying. They're not well-developed, complex, or have backstory. The worst people on Earth are the most fascinating. The other complaint is that no one seems to learn anything by the end, except that "war changes things". Maybe that's the lesson we're supposed to learn?

The book Blubber was avery good book. I klnow how that is because one of my friends is only 12 but she weighs about 190 lbs. She gets teased all the time and does'nt fit in the desks at school. Her name is Kristin. I feel bad for her, But some times I think it's her own fault cause she eats like a pig. It's a very good book and I would recomend it to anyone who likes a book that has a little bit a humor and a lot of bit of fun!!!!!!! If you liked this book read: Are you there God?? It's me Margret. Tiger Eyes

This is my third judy blume book, and let me just say it was not Blumes best book. At the end she switches the friends to much. The mean girls aren't just mean, the really rude and mean. For example: pulling a girls pants down and showing it to the boys. And when Linda was on a diet shoving the most fattening dessert down her throat. Plus nobody, NO ONE stands up for Linda till the very end. Otherwise the story keeps you excited the whole time. I do wish Blume made Jill meaner; Jill did alot of mean things but Judy made her sound a whole lot nicer then the way she acted. The book could have been much better. But read it if you want.

Judy Blume is the author of Blubber. It takes place in Mrs. Minish's classroom in 5th grade. It begins in Mrs. Minish's class while they were doing their reports. This one student, Linda Fischer, did a report on whales. She mentioned that whales have a thick layer of blubber that keep them warm and being that she was kinda of chubby all the kids called her Blubber from then on. Jill, protagonist, Caroline, and Wendy, antagonist always made fun of her and did mean things to her. In the bathroom they made her take off most of her cloths and another time they made her eat chocolate covered ants. The teacher was out of the room most of the time, so they were able to play around a lot. Well it turns out that Wendy using Linda and acts like her friend just to get Jill mad just because of some incident that happened at Halloween. Tracy and Jill stayed best friends. Caroline and Donna were still friends and Wendy and Linda became friends. I thought this book was good over all because is showed what really goes on in school when the teacher isn't around and that you can't always trust your friends. I would recommend this book to 5th graders because it is easy reading and tells you about things that 5th graders like to do to other classmates.

Blubber is a story of fifth grade! It teaches you all the ups and downs from bullying to losing your best friend! The information in this book is real life. Nothing is fake! Since I am in school I think about these things!

Blubber is a book of pure intelligence! Jill and her friend Tracy bully a new girl at their school. They bully Linda to tears! Just because she is fat!But after Jill and Tracy had their fun they learned from the best. Linda started to give them a taste of their own medicine! She showed them what it feels like to be bullied!

Jill who was a really popular girl was made fun of! Linda had the nickname of "Blubber!" But Jill was given the name "Big Baby!" The story perfectly blends with the sixth grade feeling! Jill was bully and Linda was the victim. But then the story totally turned around! Linda moved up and became both popular and a bully! Both characters have been on the place of the bully and the victim!

The book is great and you should read it!

Thanks for reading,
Chelsea

A must read for all 9 + year olds. This book is about bullying to loosely put it. A very well written book This book portrays the real deal in life. My child found some language in this book shocking. When my child asked me how I am allowing this book to be read, I said while I would not allow such language in our home, this is how it is in the real world. The kids these days use foul language that shocks me as an adult.

Every kid must made to read this book. The solution at the end of the book is not gift wrapped with a bow like other elementary school books but it is thought provoking.

As a teacher, I hope I won't have to read this book aloud to my class because of bullying, but if I notice a bullying problem this book is a great way to get the kids gain a little perspective on the issue. This novel demonstrates the horrific and incredibly revolting effects of bullying. It even brought back memories of "mean girls" when I was a child. I believe everyone can relate to this novel at one time or another. This book contains a powerful message for kids and could stop a problem before it starts. Some of the language is slightly surprising for a children's novel, but it has it's place with understanding the character and her motivations.

This story is about a girl named Jill. She was sitting in a classroom listening to a girl named Linda Fisher start talking about whales and how to keep warm by their fat called blubber. So that's when it all started.
The kids kept calling her Blubber and they've been doing mean and rotten things to her. they tease her and torment her. they call her a smelly whale and blubber. they do really really mean things to her.
this is a really good book and its a page turning book and it wants you to read on and on.

This book provides readers with the internal dialogue that is so helpful in understanding "why" kids do what they do. It only takes one strong personality in a class to influence many other kids to go along with him or her. As a former fourth grade teacher, I have seen this time and again. If the "leader" was removed from the dynamic, the majority of other kids would not be cruel. They are generally scared of being on the "bad side" of the bully. I like how Ms. Blume makes the bully a girl, because at this age, the "mean girl" mentality starts to surface if not handled correctly by parents and educators.
There are valuable lessons that can be learned in the novel. First of all, parents and teachers need to be more involved and aware. We also need to provide a better example of how to treat others. Kids watch us and follow our lead. I also believe that teachers create a climate in the classroom for what is tolerated.
I would recommend this book to a wide variety of audiences. I read it first as a child myself, but found it to be a good read again as an adult.

For those who thought that this book should have a "moral" or that there should be "apologies" at the end, I say, "Welcome to the real world!" I read this book in my elementary school years, and it was one of my favorites. It is honest, funny, disturbing, and interesting. It candidly dealt not only with bullying but with racism. Don't be afraid to let your kids read this. It shows that in the real world not everyone gets their just deserts.

um thets see if you wanna waste your money on a boring book that you can borrow from the library be my guest go and waste your money i dont thnk that it had much of a story line at all and some of the chariters really didnt make sence at all but i think that over all judy blume is a great writer but i think that in this book she really wasted her time in writing this book i dont think that is or could or even should have been writen because it is a hassele to read but it really is not one of the best novels that judy blume wrote in my opion it is the worst thanks

I was actually being bulled in school when I become absorbed into the pages of this book. It made me think that I was alone in being bullied. Later, as a foster parent of give kids, I had to remind my kids not be bully others or be bullied. I asked them to read this book. Of course, the girls did, but the boys declined. No matter what the sex of your tween or teen, I think that this book would help them to see how it feels to be bullied; it's "stepping into another person's shoes." Lastly, if your tween or teen sees others being bullied after reading this book, they may step up and tell the teacher about the bullying. It's books like Judy Blume's Blubber that help your tween and teen grow and adapt to less desired social situations. I highly recommend this book.

I just finished reading Blubber and I thought it was a good book.This book is about a girl named Linda who's being called Blubber after a animal report. The name gose all over the class room and later a girl named Jill is being picked on for standing up for herself. I would recomend this book beacause it shows a lesson that you shouln't call people names.

K.S

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!

Judy Blume displays her intuitive knowledge of a child's complex world, here a sort of Lord of the Flies nightmare in middle-class Blandoland. Power struggles, petty childhood cruelty, and surprsingly adult introspection meld into an immediately vivid cast of characters. Unless you're a numbskulled prude who needs to Save The Children from an (extremely mild) potty word appearing in the first part of chapter four (and in the process of pointing out said evil word to the general public, print the same word on a webpage where it can be read by millions of children all over the world), Blubber is an inspiring read for people who actually remember being a child.

This review is by my daughter, who just turned 10.
The book needs another chapter or two where Jill is able to make Wendy sorry for her actions. It would also be nice if a parent, or parents, is made aware of the bullying, for intervention. Also, if would be great to see Wendy and Jill work it out and become friends.

I read this book as a child and then again to my child as an adult. Of course I liked it better as a child ... as an adult it bothered me because I dont want to think about my child going to school and being hurt or have their feelings destroyed. But you know, this book was written as real life is. Life isn't easy and people hurt you and sometimes there isn't any justice. People dont always learn their lesson or say they're sorry. I think that books help children relate to problems that they might have but can't talk to anyone about them. This book can relate to many people ... a child that is different and can get made fun of, a child that goes along with the crowd even when they might not want to and there is always the person that is popular and sometimes mean. We all know them as the leader. So this book is good, you just have to realize that not all books have a wonderful happy ending. But real life doesnt either.

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.

_Blubber_ by Judy Blume shows the twists and turns in Jill's life. Jill is friends with Wendy and Carolina. They would always tease and pick on Linda because she was bigger than the other girls. later Jill and wendy get into a fight which broke up their friendship. The next day Wendy befriended Linda just to make Jill jealous. They started to tease and pick on Jill just like they did with Linda. But then Jill stood up for herself and broke up Wendy, Linda and Carolina. Yet, the narrative is completely engaging.

Blubber
Judy Blume

This wonderfully entertaining novel for young people leads one through the perspective of a fifth grader. This book is detailed, humorous, entertaining, and blunt. A group of friends find thrills in going as far as they can in ostracizing their overweight classmate Linda and re-name her Blubber. I found this book humorous because of the truth to it. Throughout the story the teacher is oblivious to the mischief, the parents are cruel, and the friends are manipulative'this is a typical young person's limited perspective.

The great strength of this book is the author's ability to speak as if she were a real fifth grader. This book mostly holds entertainment value. It is fun to hear the jokes and funny things that the characters do at this age. She draws you in with innocent humor. The moment I started reading this book, I couldn't stop.

This fun book is a page turner, but in reality I found the theme to be child cruelty. It seems that the author is sending the message that bullying is okay, while treating it lightly through humor. Children at this age are vulnerable to emotional damage and it is evident in this book. This can be dangerous because this novel is written for a young audience. Though this is a children's book, I do not recommend it to children because they may not understand the problem of treating others this way. I believe that this humorous book should only be read by those who are mature enough to understand.

This is definitely a 5 star book. It shows that no one should bully anyone and that everyone should be treated equally. I recommend this book to 9-12 year olds. I hope that you enjoy this 5 star book!!

When read this book I could not believe it! It made me so mad that anyone coud be that shallow! but I did like the way that it turned out in the end i think it will teach people a lesson that every one needs to know. Although It's not a book you'll read over and over again it is good and I do recomend it.

This book focuses on a fifth-grader who is overweight and teased. One of her classmates goes along with it but is surprised when the tables are turned, and she learns how it feels. This book is a must read for anyone who has "gone with the crowd" without thinking through the consequences.

One cannot even begin to discuss literary masterworks without including this brilliant piece of work. "Blubber" is a sublime, haunting and yet accurate portrayal of America's youth. A book such as "Huckleberry Finn" pales in comparison. The hapless Linda Fischer, dubbed "Blubber" by her cruel classmates, is derided ceaselessly throughout the first half of this tale. Then the tables are turned, and our narrator is the one who is made to look the fool. Woe is me! By the end of this book, the reader is exhausted by the exposure to such coldhearted cruelty, yet exhilerated to know that goodness triumphs over adversity. By reading this book, you will end up not only loving "Blubber", but anyone else who looks the whale!

I thought this book was so-so. Even though Judy Blume was not teasing overweight people directly, I feel that if someone who was overweight (or thought they were), read this boook they'd be sligtly offended. I enjoy other books by her, but for even such a quick read, I don't think it's worth reading.

for anyone reading this,i'm basically linda. im a 5th grader,and im 169 pounds.when i heard about this book i thought"hey,im not alone."and i dont eat too much.the only thing is that i wished linda narratted it.and you adults, kid ARE that mean.ive been teased since 1st grade.it hurts.a whole lot.

I thought it was very funny but it was also very cruel. It was kind of harsh with the couple of bad words but it had a lot of funny jokes. But I thought it was kind mean to torcher Linda .But the good thing is that Jill finally sees what Linda is really like, and she gets to know her . Because the end tells you that they became friends.

it is true this book was written in the mid 1970s but it could take place today - 30 years has not changed the under 12 social dynamics or the message put for in the narrative. We are supposed to identify with/ like Jill though she can be harsh and Kenny is meant to be a stabilizing force. He is a likeable character who shows a different side of Linda at the Bar Mitzva.
JIll does get a taste of her own medicine when she stands up to Wendy. there character types are recognizeable to most of us at some point in our lives. I liked the book as a teen ager and still like it now as an adult.

Well I think this has to be the most boring book i ever read written by Judy Blume and she is very good writer. And I just found this book very boring.But this might be good to read to a class room because it talks about teasing and the story kind of differnt because the person who makes fun of this one girl is telling the story. But at the end it has a moral meaning because ever one makes fun of the girl (the main chacter) and she kind of learns how it fealt to the girl that she was making fun of. and i could see myself as the main chacter when i was hear age.

In this book called Blubber by Judy Blume, Linda is a girl who doesn't get a lot of respect because she is sort of fat. The main character (Jill) makes fun of her and she calls her Blubber and makes her say stuff like I am Blubber and other things. This book shows how her life is and how Jill might get to know Linda.

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!!!

Blubber is a story of fifth grade! It teaches you all the ups and downs from bullying to losing your best friend! The information in this book is real life. Nothing is fake! Since I am in school I think about these things!

Blubber is a book of pure intelligence! Jill, Tracy, and Wendy all bully a new girl at their school. They bully Linda to tears! Just because she is fat! But after Jill and Tracy had their fun they learned from the best. Linda started to give them a taste of their own medicine! She showed them what it feels like to be bullied!

Jill who was a really popular girl was made fun of! Linda had the nickname of "Blubber!" But Jill was given the name "Big Baby!" The story perfectly blends with the fifth grade feeling! Jill was bully and Linda was the victim. But then the story totally turned around! Linda moved up and became both popular and a bully! Both characters have been on the place of the bully and the victim!

The book is great and you should read it!

I found this book incomplete. It's missing a crucial element: its resolution. True, Jill finds out what Wendy is really like, but no one made up with Linda. I went through some of the things Linda had to go through (thankfully not as severe). It really bugs me that people spent the whole book treating Linda so terribly and no one even tried to make up with her. I thought that, at least after what Jill had been through, she'd want to try to make up with Linda. In the end, she should have decided to try sitting with Linda, instead of Rochelle. Or maybe Linda and Rochelle. I think that would have sent a strong and important lesson to children. Without apologizing to Linda, the book has a gaping hole. The kids learned not to follow Wendy, but not how to make things right with those they hurt while following Wendy.

This book made me laugh and also it made me sad.. The way that these girls always teased "blubber" just makes me think about school and brings back memories.. It's an excellent book and will not get you bored.

when i first picked up this book i was in 3rd grade and i needed something to read and i found it. i read up untill the part where they tried to strip linda and thought it was a gay book(meaning the charcters were gay) and threw it down.
now im 12 aka in 7th grade n i thought they i needed to atleast finsh the book even if the charcters were gay. i found out they werent and was much better.
the book i guess was true. at my school ive never seen anything like some of the stuff that happend in there. exceplishy the racial slurs i was like 'hit her jill. hit her' the linda charcter seemed kinda fake but i guess some people let others walk all over them. like kissing wendys foot. i wanted her so badly to tell wendy to go dig a hole and burry herself cause i aint doing this. of course that didnt happen. i was glad that jill stood up for herself 'cause i didnt want people to walk over her to. the cussing didnt bother me and the parents seemed real. i attualy know parents who let there kids cuss(mine arent though) i fell in love with kenny(that was the only thing that kept me reading this book 'cause i thought it was a little scary)it made me think of what is happening in my best friends private school. oh and for any teachers you cant make kids like each other. you cant make them recept one another. trust me. the talks about bullying kids just make fun of later and go 'what freaks'

As a parent of first and second grade children, I thought this book was inappropriate for elementary school age children. I felt it had no redeeming value. While the main character, Jill, does get a taste of her own medicine, nothing is really resolved. She finds out what it's like to be teased and to have kids be very hateful to her. She doesn't apologize to the girl after having been so mean to her, though. Wendy, the ringleader, never finds out what it's like to be the victim. Besides that it had some inappropriate language, there is no lesson of tolerance and kindness, even from the parents. Jill and her friend smash rotten eggs in the mailbox of a man they consider mean, thinking he deserves it. They get caught much later and have to rake his lawn to make amends. When Jill's dad picks up the girls after their "punishment" the man was not very gracious, and Jill's dad basically agrees with Jill that he had deserved to get his mailbox egged. Is this the kind of lesson we want to teach our children? That if someone is different or mean, that it's ok to be mean to them? I would not want my children reading this book until they were at least junior high age, and I would want to discuss it with them then.

Blubber is a story of fifth grade! It teaches you all the ups and downs from bullying to losing your best friend! The information in this book is real life. Nothing is fake! Since I am in school I think about these things!

Blubber is a book of pure intelligence! Jill, Tracy, and Wendy all bully a new girl at their school. They bully Linda to tears! Just because she is fat! But after Jill and Tracy had their fun they learned from the best. Linda started to give them a taste of their own medicine! She showed them what it feels like to be bullied!

Jill who was a really popular girl was made fun of! Linda had the nickname of "Blubber!" But Jill was given the name "Big Baby!" The story perfectly blends with the fifth grade feeling! Jill was bully and Linda was the victim. But then the story totally turned around! Linda moved up and became both popular and a bully! Both characters have been on the place of the bully and the victim!

The book is great and you should read it!

I found this book incomplete. It's missing a crucial element: its resolution. True, Jill finds out what Wendy is really like, but no one made up with Linda. I went through some of the things Linda had to go through (thankfully not as severe). It really bugs me that people spent the whole book treating Linda so terribly and no one even tried to make up with her. I thought that, at least after what Jill had been through, she'd want to try to make up with Linda. In the end, she should have decided to try sitting with Linda, instead of Rochelle. Or maybe Linda and Rochelle. I think that would have sent a strong and important lesson to children. Without apologizing to Linda, the book has a gaping hole. The kids learned not to follow Wendy, but not how to make things right with those they hurt while following Wendy.

This book made me laugh and also it made me sad.. The way that these girls always teased "blubber" just makes me think about school and brings back memories.. It's an excellent book and will not get you bored.

when i first picked up this book i was in 3rd grade and i needed something to read and i found it. i read up untill the part where they tried to strip linda and thought it was a gay book(meaning the charcters were gay) and threw it down.
now im 12 aka in 7th grade n i thought they i needed to atleast finsh the book even if the charcters were gay. i found out they werent and was much better.
the book i guess was true. at my school ive never seen anything like some of the stuff that happend in there. exceplishy the racial slurs i was like 'hit her jill. hit her' the linda charcter seemed kinda fake but i guess some people let others walk all over them. like kissing wendys foot. i wanted her so badly to tell wendy to go dig a hole and burry herself cause i aint doing this. of course that didnt happen. i was glad that jill stood up for herself 'cause i didnt want people to walk over her to. the cussing didnt bother me and the parents seemed real. i attualy know parents who let there kids cuss(mine arent though) i fell in love with kenny(that was the only thing that kept me reading this book 'cause i thought it was a little scary)it made me think of what is happening in my best friends private school. oh and for any teachers you cant make kids like each other. you cant make them recept one another. trust me. the talks about bullying kids just make fun of later and go 'what freaks'

As a parent of first and second grade children, I thought this book was inappropriate for elementary school age children. I felt it had no redeeming value. While the main character, Jill, does get a taste of her own medicine, nothing is really resolved. She finds out what it's like to be teased and to have kids be very hateful to her. She doesn't apologize to the girl after having been so mean to her, though. Wendy, the ringleader, never finds out what it's like to be the victim. Besides that it had some inappropriate language, there is no lesson of tolerance and kindness, even from the parents. Jill and her friend smash rotten eggs in the mailbox of a man they consider mean, thinking he deserves it. They get caught much later and have to rake his lawn to make amends. When Jill's dad picks up the girls after their "punishment" the man was not very gracious, and Jill's dad basically agrees with Jill that he had deserved to get his mailbox egged. Is this the kind of lesson we want to teach our children? That if someone is different or mean, that it's ok to be mean to them? I would not want my children reading this book until they were at least junior high age, and I would want to discuss it with them then.

I was Linda once and I read this book back in the 70s, I'm 50 now and it still rings true.
I tell my son everyday that he needs to be the bigger person and never let himself be bullied into being a belly himself.
Always stand up for the underdog. This book should be in every public school library.

I am a student at West Virginia State College taking a Children's Literature course. This is a banned book in most schools and although there were a few cuss words and the children making fun of oneanother, i believe this is a good book for the age recommended. It will teach children that it is not okay to make fun of someone and you should treat others how you would like to be treated, because it will come back on you. I enjoyed reading Blubber, by Judy Blume. I could not put this book down. I did however want more toward the ending and this book could have ended differently with Jill getting what she deserved. Overall its a must read!

Get real folks, I am just getting ready to read this. How I missed it. I don't know. I work with juves right now and some how people still seem to be blind to what has happened and is still happening. Bulling isn't new and is not going to get old. I am sure I will be having some of my students reading along with me. I am 63 years old and still remember the bulling before in 1st grade. WAKE-UP!
READ and watch what is happening around you. I will let you know later what I think! Never to old, I know I will love it. THANKS, Judy Blume

k people are mean just learn to deal with it ignore it and then tell somebody like an adult its perfectly noemal when people are this age they can be extremly cruel for example girls are mean to girls, boys are mean to boys, girls are mean to boys, or boys are mean to girls (if thats the case something is wrong with that dude) This book shows the problems of s middle school girl or boy i have this problem im not gonna say how old i am but its not fun not at all

See this book is great because Judy Blume writes stories about real things that happen in a 5th grade life. The main characters are Tracy(the mean one)Jill (the main girl)Linda (the girl being picked on)and Rochelle (the unsuspecting friend) anyway Judy Blume writes things that actually happen in everyday life
For example bullies,name calling and a lot of pain. So if you like cliffhangers,realistic fiction,and awesome books here's a hint : READ THE BOOK!!!!

Judy Blume books have got me through my childhood... As I love to read...I loved reading these books to pass the time and they are very interesting!!! Her books always have a message of respect for others as well as self security..

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!

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.

I have always loved Judy Blume books. I read this in 5th grade and I actually have someone in my class named David, who I can say has quite some blubber. I would defiantly recommend this book to two of my best friends named Maya and Bailyn.

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....

I have always wondered why Sophomore English teachers often require students to read "Night" by Elie Wiesel rather than "Man's Search for Meaning" by Victor Frankl. Both cover the same experiences but one comes forth as an affirmation of even a painful life while the other leaves readers questioning whether life has any meaning at all. I'm not among those that suggest that "Blubber" be removed from library shelves. It speaks candidly to a very real and tragic situation. My objection with the book is that it has been placed at the center of a required curriculum in our district about bullying. While the books is accurate, even horrifying in it's accuracy, many of my Fourth graders are not ready to be led on a forced march through a book that is so painful with so little in the way of constructive lessons. "Wringer" by Jerry Spinelli is a far better treatment of bullying than Blume's work when the issue is required reading and I'm sure there must be others that don't rub students' noses in the adult assumption that reality is reality and that bullying is just a fact of life for kids.

This book teaches children about attitude. If they treat others bad, maybe someday people will also treat them bad. What comes around goes around. When we take an action, we have to think of " what would I feel if somebody do this to me". It's a good book.

Jill is a girl who (with others) picks on this girl Linda because of her wieght. Judy Blume shows how the saying "treat others the way you would like to be treated." And Jill doesn't. And it backfires to her. She doesn't like it one bit either. Maybe she should of listened to her mother's advise? It's a hilarious story, with lots of funny plots! And I recomend it!

I am a nine year old girl who tried to read this book, but could only make it to chapter 5 because I was so upset with the story. The characters do awful things to Linda and are not sorry about it. The story is sad and mean, and I am very disappointed in the book. I'm surprised Judy Blume would write this kind of story. There even was a swear word on page 30 that I showed my mom. She was very surprised that Judy Blume would put this in a book meant for 9 to 12 year old kids. I will not be finishing this book. It would be a waste of my time.

It was okay. I like books about bullying for some reason, and this was about bullying. However, there were maybe seven swear words in this book. Really, in a way, it's not a kids book because of that. But this book was pretty good.

I have read this book and many other JUDY BLUME books when I was growing up. I think this is a great book for a child. Growing up as an overweight child I knew what it felt like to be teased and was able to relate to the character in this book. I found these books very helpful. When my children are old enough to read them I will gladly provide them.

We treat this book out loud as our bedtime story. It took us about two weeks to read this way. We enjoyed the lesson we learned. We did not enjoy the depictions of bullying very much. Mom did not like the character of Wendy at all.

This book was so cool.It took place in Mrs.Minish's class while they were doing there reviews.Linda did her about whales and Blubber.Everyone started calling her Blubber because she was so fat.Then they became enemies.One day they met each other in a party.There parents wanted them to be friends.Will they become friends or enemies forever?Read to find out.

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.

I LOVE this book. It's funny, insightful and for the most part realistic. The relationships between kids and kids with their parents still happens today. This book took on bullying LONG before anything I ever read. Judy Blume has always been a writer ahead of her time. I just love her and hope one day to meet her!

Got a girl or boy picking on someone in their class? Give them this book! Easy to read and relate to (from a child's perspective). Really puts you in their shoes to see how it feels when someone is mean to you for no good reason. If your kid is BEING picked on for being overweight or anything else, this is also good for them to teach them that they need to speak up for themselves, and so they don't feel alone.

Although I had bitter feeling after I read this book which reminded me of my schooltime with bullying girls, I found this book still depicted bullying and how things get worse easily between kids in a cute way. They are no more at this point.

If I reviewed books based on whether or not they were realistic, I'd give this one 3-5 stars, because it does provide an accurate, if limited, portrayal of social bullying. It's realism extends to the unfortunate truth that bullying of all kinds is frequently ignored and even upheld by teachers and parents.

Others have commented that among the novel's chief faults is that there is no redemption and not much resolution. The victim of the bullying turns out to be weak and unlikeable, and this limits the book's value for real-life victims of bullying. It also reinforces the notion that victims are ultimately to blame, and not their abusers. I'm not convinced that this alone makes Blubber a 'bad novel' but I do lean toward the view that writing for the upper elementary/middle school set should probably not be entirely dystopic. Is hopelessness and despair really a good theme for a kids' novel? I think it can be, though perhaps for slightly older children and with far better writing (see Cormier's Chocolate War for a dystopic ya novel with bullying and adult collusion)

But forget for a moment that none of the characters has more than a shred of common decency or moral courage. This novel fails on an even more basic level -- the writing is poor. Parts of the book are extremely graphic, and Blume's writing quite simply isn't good enough to pull this off -- it comes across as tawdry and crude where it should be heartbreaking and infuriating. It doesn't provide any kind of intellectual challenge, relying instead on keeping the emotional tension high throughout; it is cheap and gimmicky and, above all, ugly.

I read this as a child and once again recently because my oldest child is at the age when many girls 'discover' Judy Blume. I won't stop her from reading it if she stumbles across it, but I'll be glad if she misses it entirely. If she does read it, I'll want to talk about it with her. I'd recommend that adults avoid buying this book for children. Several of Blume's other novels are decent, and one or two are almost good, but this one is problematic at best.

I love this book, because it is about a girl who is a bystander. then she starts to get bullied, and she starts to realize how hard it can be to be bullied. This is one of Judy Blume's best books.So if you like her other books...read this book!

I am a big fan of Judy Blume.....or so I thought. This story was very disturbing and made me somewhat uncomfortable reading. The plot was pointless and the cruelty expressed by the characters was exaggerated. Quite a disappointment from Ms. Blume.

I found this book troubling and totally unfit for children. While it passes itself as being helpful to those who are being teased at school, it contains no characters that I liked or could identify with. The main character least of all. She is crass, selfish, foul-mouthed and totally unapologetic for her inappropriate and sometimes cruel behavior. She calls her teacher a bitch, and among other gems threatens her brother with something like, "Shut your damn mouth or I'll bash your face in". Really charming stuff. The parents smoke and drink and encourage their daughter's swearing. Teachers are depicted as clueless and school as pointless and boring. The story ends with no real resolution. The guilty go unpunished for all of their horribly cruel acts to other children. The main character and others show no evidence of having learned from their mistakes. Most unrealistic of all, the victim of the worst teasing gleefully joins her torturers to start picking on someone else. The author must have thought that she could use her fame to get away with anything. She seems to forget that the book is targeted towards children. A little thing called an editor might have helped, but this book is unsalvageable.

Realistic? Sure, in the sense that bullying is a guaranteed phenomenon when you force a group of immature people to be together with little guidance or oversight. (Not that the reminder has done any good -- the compulsory institutionalization of children in the name of "education" is a hazing of sorts that our society seems perfectly happy to keep in place.) And yet unrealistic -- the book (and Blume's style of writing in general) reminds me of the after-school specials I grew up with -- which dealt with valid issues and situations, yet with characters and motivations that I could not relate to because they were such awful caricatures and stereotypes. It was compelling in the way that a train wreck is compelling, but I always felt depressed and sickened afterwards. None of it helped me deal better with my own struggles; it did not make me feel less alone; there was nothing in the least edifying about it. It just made me feel icky.

A previous commenter wondered whether it might actually be fuel for bullies-in-making. While what people do with a work is not necessarily an indictment of the work itself, in this case the fact is that it reads almost purely as an observational study with little self-analysis or moralizing message implied (and it's arguable whether there is actually any,) so of course there are people for whom it's going to be easy to see it as a primer. This was actually just my experience in middle school -- the bullies thought it fantastic fodder -- and I wouldn't be surprised if it has been much used in this way. People seem to think the book is valuable simply because it *describes* bullying, as if it's something we're all unaware of and need to be enlightened about. But we already know it happens, and children see it around them and experience it first-hand. The book adds no insight, so I don't know what the point of it is, except as titillating melodrama. I'd honestly be interested to hear from anyone who it helped to either not bully or to recover from the bullying, because I am just not seeing what it is about the book that would accomplish that.

I read all of Judy Blume's books as a child and recall loving them. Now that my son is 8, we recently started the Fudge series.

But after a couple chapters of Blume, I had to put it away. I understand what the book is trying to do, and I agree with other reviewers who say the book is realistic, but I don't want to encourage any name-calling in my child. Like when they call Harvey a "butterball," my son asked me what they meant and it just didn't feel like healthy storytime.

I don't consider myself super uptight about being PC but I don't want to do anything that could encourage my son to be mean to other kids or add lists of insults to his vocabulary.

We are going to continue with the other Blume books, but I think this one is out-dated.

This book is not worth reading. It is about some kids who make fun of a girl because she is fat.The main characters are two girls. They make fun of a girl, Linda who their class nicknamed blubber. Then one day the rest of the class likes blubber and they don't like one of the main characters anymore. This happens for no reason at all.This book deserves 0 stars.

I like Judy Blume's Fudge series, but her other books aren't that great. This book has no redeeming qualities. One of the rules in writing children's books is that the main character should be likeable. But the main character was the most horrible, spoiled, rude, rotten bully. She constantly makes fun of an over weight girl in school along with her fellow bullies, puts rotten eggs in a neighbor's mail box, talks back to her parents, etc. Absolutely a horrible character, so it was hard to like the book (and I tried). This book was written in the 1970's, and I was surprised to see the word "bitch" in the book (the main character called an adult a bitch). I don't believe this is a very good book for a child to read. It might give them ideas on how to be a rotten child. I was surprised this book was even published.

I picked up this book at a thrift store because as a child I was a huge Judy Blume fan. I read it in one day. Not because it was so good, but much like one can't turn away from the sight of an awful wreck.

The abuse and torture that go on in this book is appalling. And what's worse, it's laughed about. The world was outraged at the abuse that happens to David Peltzer in A Child Called It, but in Blume's book, this abuse is laughable, and chalked up as just a part of growing up. Absolutely appalling.

When a parent is finally told, her only advise to the child was, "You have to learn to laugh it off." WHAT??

I do realize that there's a large time difference, but I'd like to think that 30 years ago if I would've told my mom that someone was being abused (I'm sorry...the word "bullied" is NOT a strong enough word), she would've taken more aggressive measures.

THEY HOLD HER HANDS AND LIFT HER SKIRT IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE CLASS! They threaten to strip her clothes off. They make her kiss their foot. They lock her in a closet. And kid reviewers are calling this book funny. There's something VERY wrong about this.

To the shy little girl out there who is secretly being teased at school, and comes home tonight and picks up this book, I ask, where is her hope?

Blume forgot to write the sequel: Blubber 2- The Story of a Teenage Suicide. That one oughta be a hoot.

I Hated this book. Initially I was so excited to read it aloud to my children. I mean, a fun book with a lesson about bullying? Yay! No. I got over half way through it by reading aloud before I told them to just go play and finished it by myself to see if there was any point at all to this book. I was so disappointed. The book describes bullying with joy. There was no inner conflict, no inner turmoil about what the main character was doing to the poor victim. There was no resolution, no moral, no happy ending with children learning life lessons. Just a bunch of HATEFUL (like, extraordinarily hateful) girls attacking a poor unfortunate girl and then a VERY mild turning of the tables before an abrupt and unsatisfying ending. Pointless and nasty book. Don't waste your time. My kids were very disturbed at the things I was reading to them.

I ordered multiple copies of this book before I read it and now I am sorry I did. Although the book captures bullying at its worst, I must say I was disappointed that there was no resolution to the pain and suffering Linda experienced at the hands of her classmates. I found it unrealistic for Linda to then join Wendy in tormenting other students. As for Jill, the tables were turned on her, but she never truly understood the pain she also caused Linda. There were never any apologies or consequences for the action of the students in this book. I had planned to put this book in my classroom library, but I will not due to some of the language used in the text. Call me old fashioned, but calling a teacher a __tch is not necessary, and neither is some of the other language that is sprinkled throughout the text.

This is a dumb book. It's about a fat kid named Linda who gets picked on dumb ten year olds that like to say bad words, strip Linda's clthes off, make her sing "breast", kiss feet, etc. There's no moral to this. I bet Judy Bloom was drumk when she wrote this junk!

I am disappointed in this book by Blume. My 11-year-old daughter has read several (8) of her books and this is the first one she brought to me - pointing to the word "bitch" (not used to describe a female dog) - saying she did not think she should read this book. The word is used by a character that is a student to describe her teacher in the beginning of chapter 4. The book was a nice read up to that point and now I will have to read the rest to see if it is suitable for my daughter to finish. Who has time for that!? Shouldn't we be able to trust an author for our children??? Unfortunately, this has made me question my daughter to read future Blume books.

I think this book was horrible...Blubber is about mean girls who don't learn their lesson or pay for the bullying that they do. There is even one part in the book where a girl name Jill sticks up for Linda (the poor girl who is bullied through the entire book)and then Jill gets bullied for standing up for her. Not a good lesson.What are we teaching our children? I gave it one star because it does keep you wanting to read more.Hoping at the turn of every page that these mean girls will be taught a lesson and somehow pay for what they had done.Unfortunately that never happens. My 8yr. old was very disapointed. She just finished Are You There God? It's Me Margaret and Friend or Fiend both by Judy Blume and loved both books. My 8yr daughter loves Judy Blume. I think she is an amazing children's author...but she missed the mark on this one.

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.

From the reviews, this doesn't sound like a good book! I know what bullying & mean girls are like, & have no desire to relive it! Those kids can be mean, the ones I dealt with still deserve some good punishment! I don't think I'll read this, though. Enough about the so-called 'shocking language' in this book, it's been said so much it's not that shocking! The author is just being realistic. Those mean girls shouldn't put so much emphasis on physical appearance! Always fixing their hair unnecessarily every 5 minutes these days, when it doesn't need it, or caring way too much about clothes! So stupid! Anyway, I don't plan to read this book!

I thought this book was so-so. Even though Judy Blume was not teasing overweight people directly, I feel that if someone who was overweight (or thought they were), read this boook they'd be sligtly offended. I enjoy other books by her, but for even such a quick read, I don't think it's worth reading.

This book is not worth reading. It is about some kids who make fun of a girl because she is fat.The main characters are two girls. They make fun of a girl, Linda who their class nicknamed blubber. Then one day the rest of the class likes blubber and they don't like one of the main characters anymore. This happens for no reason at all.This book deserves 0 stars.

I never read the Judy Bloom books. I recently read, "Are you there God? It's me Margaret" and really enjoyed it. So, I bought a whole bunch of them for my Kindle for fast, light, enjoyable reading in between long novels.