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.
A New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year
(affiliate links included)
**My thoughts**
Judy Blume's books were a staple of my childhood reading. Her books were so relevant to us at the time and she was actively publishing during my childhood. I remember reading Blubber when I was in about the 4th grade and really felt like I related to Linda because I was that chunky girl in my class. In fact, the title of this book likely did encourage some of the kids to give me the same moniker, though I somewhat ignored them. And I also sort of related to Jill and her friends, because I know I was a part of making fun of other children as well.
Fast forward to me being a middle-aged adult. I almost cringe reading this now. Narrator Jill is much nastier about Linda than I remember reading when I was a kid. If that isn't bad enough, I can hear her words in my own voice, reminding me of how mean I could also be as a kid. [I feel like we all had our moments.] And I don't think it hit me as hard back then how bullied Jill was as well, particularly for not following along with Wendy and her crew all the time. I'd like to think that in the past several years, we've been working on teaching children to act better. But the problem continues to persist, at least as bad as depicted in this story.
For the first time, I realized that this book also tackles children bullying adults, as they go after their neighbor, Mr. Machinist, on Halloween. This is something that we don't often think about when we are talking about kids and how they treat others.
And then there is my teacher side. I've been an educator my entire adult life. It also hurts me to see teachers portrayed as not noticing the bullying going on. And yet, I know that's a sad fact of life, even today. I like to think that I'm more on top of it than my peers in the field. But I also work with younger children, so it's different. Even worse is how some of the teachers are also doing some of the bullying. I know everyone would like to think that teachers don't do that, but I continue to witness some appalling behavior and comments out of teachers to this day.
But I'm glad that it hurts and has an impact on me, even as an adult. It just proves to me that this book is still important. Bullying is sadly an ongoing issue among children [and adults], and something that I'm not sure we'll ever completely eradicate. But reading a book like this could easily provoke some good conversations between adults and children. Some children may recognize themselves in the story, which is also important. My hope is that they would be more aware of their own words and actions and make the appropriate adjustments.
