Blubber

Blume, J. (1974). Blubber. New York, NY: Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers.

Bookspot.com’s Challenged Books List

In Judy Blume’s Blubber, the main character Jill Brenner is a fifth grade girl who joins in with Wendy, her sidekick Caroline, and others in her class to bully Linda, an overweight girl who is nicknamed “Blubber” after giving a report on whales to the class.  Following Wendy’s lead, Jill and her classmates bully Linda by name calling, teasing her for eating cupcakes, pulling a prank on her at the school assembly, making a list of ways to torment her, and at one point attempting to strip her in the girl’s bathroom.  In the end, the tables are turned and when Jill tries to usurp Wendy’s authority, she gets her revenge by having the class, including Linda, ostracize Jill instead.  Unlike Linda, Jill eventually stands up to Wendy and the bullying stops, but Jill learns a valuable lesson about what it is like to be on the other side.

Critics challenge this book because of its mature language and because Wendy, the biggest bully in the class, receives no consequences or punishment for her behavior.  But, though it was written almost forty years ago, I believe this book is very relevant to current issues schools are facing with bullying today.  Even though a lot of bullying has now moved to cyberspace, it is just as painful and scarring as the emotional, physical, and mental bullying that Linda endured in this book.  If parents are first made aware of the mature language and content in the book, it could be used to help teach kids the same valuable lessons that Jill learns.