Freckle Juice
 |
 First edition | |
| Author | Judy Blume |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Sonia O. Lisker |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Four Winds Press |
Publication date | 1971 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 47 pp |
| ISBN | 0-440-42813-0 |
| OCLC | 16245047 |
| LC Class | MLCS 2006/13892 (P) |
Freckle Juice (ISBN 0-440-42813-0) is a 1971 children's chapter book by Judy Blume with illustrations by Sonia O. Lisker. It is about a second grade student who wants to have freckles.
Summary
Second-grader Andrew Marcus desperately wants to have freckles like his classmate Nicky Lane, just so that his mother will never notice when his neck is dirty. Nicky Lane had freckles. He had a million freckles (around eighty six million of them). Andrew tried to count Nicky's eighty six million freckles (since he had eighty six million). Andrew counted them, but when he got to 86, Mrs. Kelly (Andrew's teacher) asked him if he was paying attention. Nicky had freckles but Andrew did not. So he buys a recipe from a classmate named Sharon for a horrible (and false) concoction (potion) for getting freckles called freckle juice.
These are the full directions to this potion (freckle juice):
- grape juice
- juice from one lemon
- ketchup
- mustard
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
- mayonnaise
- a speck of onion
The recipe then told Andrew that the faster he drank, the more freckles he would get like Nicky.
Andrew tries the experiment at home. When he drinks the potion, it makes his face turn greenish and he gets sick. This causes his mother to think he has appendicitis. Mrs. Marcus goes to telephone the doctor but notices the mess in the kitchen and the directions for the magic potion (freckle juice). It did not give him freckles; it just made him sick. After Mrs. Marcus caught sight of the mess and the instructions to the said magic potion, she scolded Andrew for messing with potions. Andrew really scared his mother half to death (making her think that he had an appendicitis). Then his mother says, "Now young man-YOU ARE GOING TO BED!".
This caused Andrew to miss one school day. The next day he stayed home from school but quickly recovered. However, on the following morning (the following school day after the next), he was forced to go to school. That morning, Mrs. Marcus sang a good morning song (saying, "Rise and shine! Time for school, Andrew! Don't forget to wash behind your neck and behind your ears!"). Then she took the covers off of Andrew to get him ready for school. Andrew though, he tried to play games with his mother (by faking his illness and saying he would "never go to school again"). Mrs. Marcus (who was serious and not playing games) told Andrew that she had "a school drop out in second grade" (which means she "works during the day"). She threatened him that if he wasn't awake and dressed before she counted to fifteen, he would take three baths a day (every day for the next ten millenniums). He could not stay at home because his mother said to Andrew that she works during the day (during school hours) and she can't just stay and watch Andrew.
Andrew had to face a difficult choice (given by his mother). He could either be awake and dressed before she counted to fifteen or take three baths a day for the next ten millenniums. However, when Andrew heard that warning from his mother (and when he had the choice between those two options), he ended up following her warning. He ended up waking up anyhow. He got dressed before his mother counted to fifteen. Then, he ate a breakfast bun and drank milk. So it is revealed that Andrew made a good choice.
When Andrew is well enough to return to school, he gives himself fake freckles with a blue magic marker. But he soon regrets it and is relieved when his teacher, Miss Kelly, gives him a "magic freckle remover" to remove his marker freckles. Ironically, the classmate he admired for having freckles asks for the freckle remover, causing Sharon to try to sell this boy a new potion: “freckle-removing juice.”
Reviews
"This convincing small boy adventure proceeds smoothly to a satisfying conclusion. The conniving little girl, understanding teacher, and feckless, freckleless boy are amusingly depicted in the impish black-and-white illustrations and in the story which is especially suited for reading aloud to second-and third-graders." - Library Journal.
"Spontaneous humor, sure to appeal to the youngest reader. The amusing sketches and the well-spaced type make an inviting volume." - The Horn Book Magazine.
