BOOK REVIEW: Blubber by Judy Blume

This is a book review for Blubber by Judy Blume. I read this book as part of my Banned Book Challenge hosted by Buckling Bookshelves. 

Blubber is a good name for her, the note from Wendy says about Linda. Jill crumples it up and leaves it on the corner of her desk. She doesn't want to think about Linda or her dumb report on the whale just now. Jill wants to think about Halloween. But Robby grabs the note, and before Linda stops talking it has gone halfway around the room. That's where it all starts. There's something about Linda that makes a lot of kids in her fifth-grade class want to see how far they can go -- but nobody, least of all Jill, expects the fun to end where it does.

I remember loving this book as a child. I think the last time I read it was in junior high. When I was younger, my mom did not try to censor what I read in any way. I read Judy Blume books, Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High, and more than my fair share of romance novels. I remember one day when my mom saw I was reading this book. She asked me, "Hey, I heard this book may have some bad stuff in it. Does it?" I was genuinely perplexed because I saw nothing wrong with the book. I replied, "No it doesn't. I really like the book." And that was that. I was lucky that my mom trusted me and my taste in reading material. She wasn't going to censor me just because others said there may be questionable material in it.

Reading this as an adult was an eye-opening experience. The bullying in this book was disturbing and appalling. The instances of bullying in this book went way beyond name calling. The scene in the bathroom where three girls tried to strip Linda was the most disturbing. What was even more appalling was that as a child, I saw nothing wrong with it. I was bullied a bit at school and I never told anyone, not a teacher, not my parents, no one. Maybe when I was reading it, I just took for granted that this stuff happened. I think the worst part about this book was that the ending was so open-ended. The ringleader of the bullies, Wendy, never got in trouble or learned her lesson. Jill never learned her lesson about giving into peer pressure or about how much pain bullying could cause. Even when the tables were turned and Jill was the one being bullied, she still blamed Linda. She thought that if Linda had only laughed everything off instead of showing how much the bullying hurt, then no one would have picked on her. I felt so sorry for Linda and I really disliked the main character. This was not one of Judy Blume's better books. That being said, if I had kids I would still not prevent them from reading this book. I really think kids and young adults should be able to read the books they want to and form their own opinions. I would also like to think that my children would not become bullies simply from this book. It just doesn't work that way.

Buy/Borrow/Skip: As much as I hate to say it, I would say skip it. There just aren't many redeeming qualities about this book. Judy Blume's other books are so much better.