Superfudge
| Superfudge | |
|---|---|
 1st edition |
|
| Author(s) | Judy Blume |
| Cover artist | Roy Doty |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Children's novel |
| Publisher | E. P. Dutton |
| Publication date | 1980 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 166 pp. |
| ISBN | 0-525-40522-4 |
| OCLC Number | 5992603 |
| LC Classification | PZ7.B6265 Su 1980 |
| Preceded by | Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing |
| Followed by | Fudge-A-Mania |
Superfudge is a children's novel by Judy Blume, published in 1980. It is the sequel to Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The story is about four-year-old Fudge whose family has given him an increased vocabulary. Due to that fact, he knows where babies come from and plans to be a bird when he grows up. According to his older brother, Peter, he is the biggest pain ever invented, but is loved all the same.
Peter thinks about running away from home. His mother, Anne, is pregnant, and Fudge annoys him to no end. He worries that the baby will be like a carbon copy of Fudge, but when Anne gives birth to a girl they name Tamara Roxanne, who soon comes to be called "Tootsie," he finds that his fears are unfounded. Fudge, however, becomes jealous of all the attention she is getting and acts out.
Fudge's father (Warren) decides to take a leave of absence from his advertising agency job to write a book, and Anne decides to go to school to take art history courses, so they announce that they are moving to Princeton, New Jersey for a year. Peter is less-than-thrilled at the idea, and when he learns that Fudge has been enrolled at the same school he will be attending, he feels even worse. His best friend, Jimmy Fargo, however, tries to see the bright side; Peter will be far away from his nemesis, Sheila Tubman, and he promises that he will visit him in Princeton.
Princeton proves boring for Peter until he meets a local boy named Alex Santo. Discovering that they will be in the same class at school, they become friends. Fudge makes a new friend of his own, a self-proclaimed bird expert named Daniel Manheim, who is Jewish.
At school, Peter (who is 11 years old at the start of the book) is in sixth grade, while Fudge is in kindergarten at the same elementary school. Fudge resents his assigned teacher because she refers to him by his legal name, Farley (the teacher disapproved of the nickname "Fudge") and acts out by climbing to the top of the cabinetry in his classroom and refusing to budge; Fudge is eventually moved to the other class, whose teacher accepts the nickname.
Over the course of the following year, Peter and Fudge each experience their own highs and lows:
- Fudge gets a myna bird he names Uncle Feather and then decides that he wants to be one when he grows up.
- Peter develops a crush on a local girl named Joanne McFadden.
- Jimmy comes to visit Peter, but when he and Alex meet and become fast friends, Peter can't help feeling left out and resentful.
- Fudge receives a new bike for Christmas, then tells Peter a shocking secret—that he's always known Santa isn't real.
- Fudge meets his favorite author, Brian Tumkin, and causes an awkward moment for Peter at a school assembly.
- After Fudge plays a practical joke on Peter, he refuses to bring him to a picnic he is having with Alex. Afterwards, Fudge goes missing and Peter thinks he is to blame, until he and Daniel are found at a local deli.
At the end of their time in Princeton, Warren and Anne talk about moving back to New York City. Although Peter has gotten accustomed to life there, he looks forward to going back to his "normal" life in the big city.
The timeframe for this story is presumably 1978, as the book talks a lot about Superman, which was the year the film debuted. Peter says how he had seen it when he was still in New York City, but it had not yet played in Princeton, so the friends he made there have not yet seen it. Jimmy Fargo claims to have already seen it twice; to which the second time he saw it was better. The story also mentions a coming of age event for Peter. Fudge pours ice down Peter's shirt in the onscreen shot of Superman kissing Lois Lane, and Joanne sits with him and offers him napkins to dry off the cold water. Jimmy and Alex have not yet gotten into girl-boy relationships and tease him for it. Fudge is also inspired by the film, believing it may be possible he was born on Krypton and can become like Superman.
Later (post-2003) reprints contain edits to the book, including a different Christmas list for Peter, references to record players replaced with CDs, MP3 Players and tapes, and making Anne only allergic to tree nuts instead of all kinds (resulting in her unable to eat peanut butter in the original). Fudge also mentions at one part that he likes to watch The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, and The Electric Company. This was edited so he says that he likes to watch Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network.
[edit] Television
A television show based on Superfudge and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing entitled Fudge ran from 1995-1997.
