Superfudge By Judy Blume

Title: Superfudge
Author: Judy Blume
ISBN: 978-0-14-240880-3
178 pages
Puffin Books, 2007 edition

Judy Blume is the quintessential 'tween' author; so adept at describing the wonders and worries of young pre-teen and early teen kids. Her books have become world famous, and rightfully so. 'Superfudge' is not the first book with the character Fudge (that honor goes to 'Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing') but one of my co-worker's children lent me 'Superfudge' explaining that I did not have to have read the others to enjoy it.

Description:

'Superfudge' is really the story of a young boy named Peter who is dealing with life and his crazy family; namely his younger brother Farley (nicknamed Fudge). Heaped on to this is the fact that his mom is set to give birth and his whole family is moving to New Jersey. Once the baby, Tootsie, is born Peter is forced to navigate the world of his new family dynamic and his new home (even though its only for one year) with four-year-old Fudge a constant nuisance. Fudge is extremely intelligent for his age and knows things that a four-year-old ought not know about making his actions all the more aggravating to Peter. Initially reticent to enjoy his time in New Jersey, Peter slowly begins to make new friends, even if their lives are different from his old home in the 'Big City' (New York City).

Review:

The dynamic between Peter and Fudge is hilarious and reminiscent of real-life scenarios that I can remember vividly. There is constant talk of Superman and Fudge likes to see himself as some sort of caped crusader (thus the title) which is very real in terms of boys this age (this is the age group that I work most with and the boys are non-stop with their superhero/harry potter-type talk). The book is definitely a fun one and is filled with the kind of pseudo-angst that makes adolescence so real and so funny.