When Jill Brenner’s shy, slightly overweight fifth grade classmate Linda gives a class report on whales, Wendy, the class leader, decides to start calling her “Blubber”. The nickname catches on, and soon nearly the whole class joins in on teasing and bullying Linda, including Jill. The bullying escalates until Wendy and the rest of the class put Linda through a mock trial, on charges of revealing a prank that Jill and her friend Tracy had pulled on Halloween. Jill finally stands up to Wendy when she denies Linda the right to a lawyer, and suddenly Jill becomes the target of Wendy’s bullying. When her attempts to laugh off the teasing backfire, she manages to end it by undermining Wendy’s other friendships, and makes a new friend in the process.

This book has some important themes about bullying that are just as relevant today as they were in 1974 when the book was first published. However, I found myself mostly just frustrated with the cruelty and block-headedness of the characters, including Jill. The characters are round and well-developed, and they think and act like fifth graders. The narration did seem a little disjointed at times though, and despite the book’s good qualities, I did not enjoy reading it very much.

There's undercover bullying in Mrs. Minish's 5th grade class. The majority of the class gangs up on one victim until the tables are turned and a new victim is selected. The cycle is set to continue until one classmate confronts the main bully. This book comes with an author's note from Judy Blume on the harmful effects of bullying and why it's important to speak up for others and yourself.

This book focuses on the true morality of people, and what they are willing to do to fit in. Linda is an overweight child in the fifth grade who is bullied and made fun of for it. Luckily for Jill, she is not popular or bullied so she fits in perfectly. However, after she starts to get picked on herself she starts to think more about Linda and what is happening to her, and what she should do about it. This book will teach you more about yourself than you already know and how sometimes all you need to do is empathize and be there for someone else instead of just looking out for yourself. I would rate this book 4/5 stars and recommend it to young adults who are still struggling to fit in and find their voice. -@The_Reviewer of the Teen Review Board of the Hamilton Public Library

It was fine

This book does have some bad language, but over-all it is a very good book. :)

LOVE Judy Blume!!!

When Jill joins in to pick on another child in her class, she never stopped to think what it would feel like to be picked on herself.
That would never happen... would it?

Really good.

This is a great book to read on anti-bullying. In the novel, there is an overweight classmate that gets bullied. Jill is going along with the rest of the class in mistreating her. Little does Jill know what it feels like to be tormented until it actually happens to her. I reccomend this book to any student in the fifth-grade who can relate or remember this experience happening.

A story of grade school bullying amongst a group of girls.