Blubber (novel)

Blubber

1st edition
Author	Judy Blume
Language	English
Genre	Young adult novel
Publisher	Bradbury
Publication date	1974
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	153 pp
ISBN	0-87888-072-0
OCLC	1131889
LC Class	PZ7.B6265 Bl

Blubber is a young adult novel by Judy Blume first published in 1974. The protagonist is Jill Brenner, a Pennsylvania fifth-grader who joins her classmates in ostracizing and bullying Linda, an awkward and overweight girl. Linda gives an oral class report about whales and is hence nicknamed "Blubber" by her peers.

Plot

The story takes place in Radnor, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. The story is told from the point of view of Jill, a girl in Mrs. Minish's fifth-grade class. Wendy, the smart and popular class president, leads her classmates, including Jill, in bullying an overweight girl named Linda Fischer.

Though the entire class ostracizes Linda ("Blubber"), Wendy and her best friend and sidekick Caroline are Linda's chief tormentors and bully her both physically (e.g. attempting to strip her in the girls' bathroom) and psychologically (forcing her to say things such as "I am Blubber, the Smelly Whale of Class 206"). Linda confronts Jill and threatens her with revenge after one incident, but Jill dismisses the threat.

Jill and Tracy pull a prank on the neighborhood's mean old man, Mr. Machinist, on Halloween, by stuffing raw rotten eggs into his mailbox, but are later identified from a photo taken by Mr. Machinist and are made to rake his leaves as punishment. Remembering Linda's threat, Jill suspects that "Blubber" was the one who tattled on her and Tracy; Tracy, however, suspects Wendy and Caroline, which infuriates Wendy. To appease Wendy, Jill suggests that the class hold a trial for Linda (with Wendy, naturally, as judge, and a jury made up of several classmates). To this suggestion, Tracy remarks that she thinks Jill is scared of Wendy. Jill soon realizes that Tracy is right.

The "trial" falls apart when Wendy, as judge, denies Linda her right to a "lawyer", and Jill, frustrated with herself for so readily following Wendy's lead, finally stands up to Wendy, who also arouses Jill's anger by making a racial slur against Tracy (who is Chinese-American). Wendy, furious that Jill has dared to question her authority, threatens to make Jill "sorry [she was] ever born". There is no nudity. Just some teenage girls in bikinis

Jill comes to school the next morning to find that Wendy has made good on her threat and turned the entire class against her, tagging her with the nickname "B. B." (short for "Baby Brenner"). Jill's tormentors include Linda, who is more than willing to bully one of her former harassers. Jill figures out that she can be stronger by playing into the jokes. When her classmates figure out that she is not hurt by the teasing, many quiet down. Jill goes further to fight against the bullying by pitting Wendy, Linda, and Wendy's best friend Caroline against each other, telling Caroline that she is no longer Wendy's best friend, that Linda has taken her place. When Linda affirms this, Caroline is hurt and Wendy is furious at Linda. Jill makes friends with Rochelle, a quiet girl in the class who had never participated in the bullying.

By the end, although the class atmosphere is tense, no one is getting singled out or picked on. Jill comments (the book is in a first-person narrative) on how the friendships in the class have changed completely in the classroom but how Tracy is a friend she can always count on having.

Characters

Jill Brenner — The main character in the book. She goes to Hillside School, a school for fifth and sixth graders. She is shown to be average, and is one of the many people in the class who bullies Linda. She is best friends with Tracy Wu, and becomes friends with Wendy and Caroline, but at the end of the book, becomes enemies with them because she didn't do what Wendy told her to. Also, at the end of the book she becomes good friends with a new girl in her class named Rochelle. She is in Mrs. Minish's fifth grade class. She, like everybody else in the class, calls Linda Blubber. She is a flenser for Halloween, instead of being a witch like she was for the last three years. Jill is a stamp collector, like her best friend Tracy, and makes a deal with her father that if she lets her nails grow by Christmas, he will give her $25 to spend on stamps at the Gimbels, because she always bites her nails. This is the first year she has been in Wendy and Caroline's class, the second time in Linda's class, and has been with Donna, Bruce, and Robby since kindergarten.

Wendy — A girl in Jill's class. She is very smart, powerful, and a bully. She is pretty popular, and pretty much rules the whole class. She is best friends with Caroline for most of the book but near the end of the book becomes best friends with Linda. At the very end she ends up becoming best friends with Laurie. She likes salami a lot, so she always trades lunches with Caroline. Wendy is very good at lying, too. She nicknames Linda Blubber, because she did a report on the whale and is very fat. She lives in Hidden Valley with Caroline, Robby, and Linda. She has never been in the same class as Jill, Donna, Bruce, or Robby before this year.

Caroline — Another classmate of Jill's. She is Wendy's best friend, and is her sidekick in bullying Linda. She always does what Wendy says, and seems to be a little big afraid of her. Caroline always backs up what Wendy says. She likes tuna fish a lot, so she trades lunches with Wendy every day. She is Wendy's sidekick and best friend for almost all of the book, but at the end becomes best friends with Donna Davidson. She calls Linda "Blubber," like almost everybody else in the class. She lives in Hidden Valley with Wendy, Robby, and Linda. She has never been in the same class as Jill, Donna, Bruce, or Robby before this year.

Linda Fischer — A girl in Jill's class who is nicknamed "Blubber," since she did a report on the whale's fat (blubber) and is very fat. She is the pudgiest girl in the class, and head is shaped like a potato and sits directly on her shoulders, like she has no neck. She does not know how to defend herself, either. Near the end of the book, she becomes best friends with Wendy, but by the end, she is a loner again. She lives in Hidden Valley with Wendy, Caroline, and Robby. This is the second year she has been in Jill, Donnna, Robby, and Bruce's class.

Kenny Brenner — Jill's little brother. He is in fourth grade at Longmeadow School. He wins the Halloween contest for the most original costume, because he dressed as a witch, but with a cigar, and yellow goggles. He always recites facts from his Guiness Book of World Records, and often annoys Jill.

Tracy Wu — Jill's next-door neighbor and best friend. She is a Chinese-American, and a stamp collector, like Jill. She and her family own a lot of animals. She was Big Bird for Halloween, and won a prize for the Most Beautiful Costume. She is in a different fifth grade class, and has a much better teacher, who is always thinking up fun ways for his students to learn.

Gordon Brenner — Jill and Kenny's father. He works with computers for a living.

Anne Brenner — Jill and Kenny's mother. She is trying to stop smoking, and is doing okay so far. She can blow very big chewing gum bubbles. She swears around the house often, and is okay with her kids doing it, as long as they know that there are some people who don't approve of those words.

Rochelle — A new girl in school. She is one of those who defended Linda. In the end she becomes friends with Jill.

Donna Davidson — A girl in Jill's class. She likes horses a lot, and was a horse for Halloween every year except for this year, when she is a jockey. She has been in the same class as Jill, Bruce, and Robby since kindergarten, this is her second year with Linda, and her first year with Wendy and Caroline.

Robby Winters — A student in Jill's class. He has been in Donna, Bruce, and Jill's class since kindergarten.

Bruce Bonatrava — A boy in Jill's class. He is the fattest kid in the grade. He has been in the same class as Jill, Donna and Robby since kindergarten, this is his second year with Linda, and his first year with Wendy and Caroline.

Mr. Machinist — A mean man who lives in Hidden Valley. He reports Jill and Tracy to the police for putting rotten eggs in his mailbox on Halloween. He always turns the hose on kids who venture onto his property.

Warren — A boy who is the son of Gordon's college roommate. He is hated by Jill, and hates her in return. He is Jewish, and Jill and her family have to attend his Bar Mitzvah. He can read Hebrew perfectly, but has trouble reading English.

Mrs. Minish — Jill's fifth grade teacher. Jill doesn't like her because she is boring. She says that when she opens a window it makes her neck stiff. She is very strict, too.

Irwin — Jill's classmate. Catches Linda during the "Blubber Trial" when Linda tried to escape.

Judy Blume on Blubber

According to Judy Blume in a short essay published in a recent reprint of the novel, the plot of Blubber was inspired by a very similar real-life incident involving her daughter's 5th grade class, in which one girl was singled out for torment by the class leader, who led her classmates in bullying her. "My daughter was the shy, quiet girl in the class, the observer, like Rochelle," Blume wrote. "She was upset by what was going on, but she didn't know what to do about it. She was scared. Like many other kids in that class, she worried she could wind up the next victim of the bullying." Blume also explained that she wrote Blubber to encourage children who see bullying taking place, as well as the bullies' victims themselves, to tell someone they trust rather than keep it to themselves.

See also

• List of most commonly challenged books in the U.S.

External links

• Judy Blume's website
• Blubber (Paperback) at amazon.com