Blubber

 

Summary

                Jill is a fifth grade student who is put in some tough situations.  Her best friend Tracy is not in her class this year so she becomes friends with the “mean” group of girls. In this group Wendy is the ring leader and everyone has to do what she says. When Linda, another student in class reads a book report on Whales, Wendy decides to start calling her “Blubber.” Jill and most of the class tease Linda, which gets crueler as the weeks go on. The teasing is not only is verbal but it is physical too.  Jill who is a part of the teasing starts to get tired of everyone picking on Linda. Towards the end of the year she sticks up for Linda but then the class starts bullying on Jill. Jill ask her mother what she needs to do to have the bulling stop and her mother gives her the advise to just laugh it off and eventually the teasing will stop. But Jill turned the girls in the class against each other so they forget about teasing her. She befriends a girl in her class who has tried to stay out of the situation and she makes it through till the end of the year.

Evaluation

                This realistic fiction book made me a little upset. From a teachers point of view the class got left alone more than they should have been. I believe that the teasing and bulling could have been prevented if the class was being supervised. Linda did go see the nurse and counselor but they just dismissed her and told her that it is just what happens in the fifth grade. It does bring up bullying which I think should be a concern in all school. She does provide motivation for Jill when she does realize what they are doing to Linda is wrong. The aftereffect of Jill helping Linda is putting Jill in Linda's situation. It helps to realize what someone is going through after you have been in their shoes.

Theme

                The theme of this book is bullying.

Use in Classroom

                If your classroom or school is having a hard time with bullying, this gives the reader a perspective on how it feels to be bullied. In their journals they can write about how they will deal with a bully.