Superfudge by Judy Blume - PPP
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When your inner child tells you to revisit the past by reading one of your favorite books from elementary school, tell your inner child to shut the fuck up.
In hindsight, I’m hoping that Lil Johnny Box was just duped by the exhilarating title; that he didn’t pay much attention to the actual content of the book, or maybe didn’t even read it, but that he found the title so irresistibly hilarious and mouth-watering that he just thought it was one of his favorite books. Damn you, Judy Blume! You cruel temptress! Damn you to the 7th Circle of Hell!
I’m just kidding, it wasn’t that bad. Granted, there’s no plot to Superfudge, the third book in the Fudge series by children’s fiction author Judy Blume, but there were some LOL’s for me and probably a fudgeload for the kids.
The book is narrated by Peter Hatcher, a fastidious 6th-grader, who is the older brother of Fudge, a precocious and entertainingly incorrigible 4-year-old boy. The “story” begins when his parents drop the bomb that another addition to the family is on the way. After a baby sister is born, we follow the Hatchers as they move out of New York City to spend a year in Princeton, New Jersey.
The star of the show is obviously Fudge, who beats to his own sassy drum. Upon learning of the pregnancy, he asks his mom how the baby got inside her and she decides to read him a book called, How Babies are Made. Not real good judgment on her part. Fudge proceeds to tell everyone he encounters, whether they like it or not, the baby-making process in all of its glorious detail.
Throughout the book, Blume does a good job of realistically portraying the nature of children, how they talk, their feelings, their wants and not-wants, and the little adventures youngins enjoy going on. Kids will almost certainly identify with the characters and enjoy reading about their experiences and escapades. There were even a few scenes where surprisingly complex emotions were on display. They without a doubt went straight over my head when I was a tot, but I have to applaud Blume now for exposing children to them.
Having said that, Blume commits an unforgiveable crime. An utter betrayal. The most important thing in literature has nothing to do with plot, character development, or themes etc. The most important thing in literature is that writers do not shatter the hearts of innocent children.
On the cover of the book, Blume should have included this spoiler alert: If your child believes in Santa, do not let him or her read this book. Because Judy Fucking Blume exposes the dirty little secret that Santa Claus does not exist. And you don’t even see it coming. How many poor children literally died of shock when reading this book?! Damn you, Judy Blume! You cruel spoileress! Damn you to Satan’s Poop Shoot!
Anyhoo, a silver lining was the fact that there weren’t a lot of big words. I was able to breeze through Superfudge in just under triple the average Kindle reading time.
To sum up, in Superfudge, Blume tackles such themes as childhood emotions, sibling rivalry, and family dynamics while weaving in a childish sense of humor full of horrible puns and somewhat grody jokes that kids will love. Plus, there are some nice callbacks at the end to put a tidy bow on everything. 3.5 pearls rounded down to 3 for the lack of plot and the pulverizing of little kids’ hearts.
Bonus quote: Superfudge saw a pregnant woman on the bus and said, “I know what’s growing inside you, and I know how it got there too.” The woman got up and changed her seat.
