What Age Group Is 'Blubber' Appropriate For?

I read “Blubber” again. As with so many of Judy Blume’s works, the story was so real. I considered listing this book for kids 10 and up as there are parts of the story where there is bullying and kids are under so much peer pressure to be part of a social group in the middle school they attend. I also thought the story was great for this age group because many of the themes that run throughout the novel could lead to some great discussions between kids and their parents or teachers. The story is told by a young girl who is just that – a young girl. Her observations of her fellow classmates are those of a kid her same age. We read her as she views the other kids in her class but she is not removed from the story. She is part of it and it makes her very relatable. The story is told simply but deals with some very serious issues.

For the most part, Blubber does not describe bullying in a polite or groomed fashion. Much of the bullying in the book is very brutal, even for mature readers. For younger readers, there are some scenes that are very shocking and not for the faint of heart. However, for tweens and early teenaged readers, the book will describe scenes that they recognize all too well. For the most part, the book does not present an easy solution to a very difficult problem and will explore ways in which children are easily swayed to being cruel. It will also describe the difficult role that a child must take to stand up for the victim of the bullying. I would not suggest Blubber for children under the age of 10, as it is very difficult and some children may not be able to handle it. For readers over the age of 10, however, it is a powerful exploration of bullying, and can lead to some great discussions of bullying with children who have been affected by it in some way. The book is a powerful, honest look at children in conflict, and that is why Blubber remains relevant even years after the book was first published.

The part that really got to me was how fast Jill turned on her friend Tracy. That betrayal by proximity is so subtle and so brutal. A 9 year old reader will probably not even realize that Tracy is another character and that she is a focal point in the story. A 12 year old reader, on the other hand, will get that betrayal by proximity and it will be one of the scariest parts of the book because it shows how easily loyalty can disappear when there is social pressure to do so. So this book contains a lot of layered commentaries about the story and those will be revealed to readers of different maturity levels. In other words, it is like an onion - you read it at age 9 and you get the story. You read it at age 12 and you get the Tracy subplot and the teacher's failures and the parental blindness, etc. etc. So it is suitable for a wide range of readers and is one of those few children's books that is actually better the second time around.

The novel has a notorious reputation before kids even open it up to read. The mean book, the fat-shaming book, are some of the designations bestowed upon Generation X classic Blubber. It is typically read by kids in this age group, many of whom have heard about it through classroom or bookstore conversations and approach the book with certain expectations. Several factors tell me that it is an age-appropriate response to kids’ questions about and observations of bullying, of exclusion, of meanness, including reasons why humans might behave that way. The inquiring phase usually occurs in 4th- or 5th-graders. But inquiring kids are inquiring kids, and there are 9-year-olds as well as 11-year-olds experiencing that phase. Some are ready for Blubber’s look at the human condition; others are not. A kid’s social awareness, not his or her age, will signal whether he or she is ready to read this novel. A very sheltered 11-year-old is likely not going to be ready for this novel. A very socially aware 9-year-old may be.