Double Fudge
by Judy Blume
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Book Summary Information
Author: Judy BlumeEdition: Hardcover
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2002-08-31
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 160
Book Reviews of Double Fudge
Book Review: A Good Read for Grades 2-5
Summary: 4 Stars
As an eight-year old last year, my daughter read all four of the Judy Blume "Fudge" books and loved them. Recently, she's asked me to read the books to her as bedtime stories; I think they've become the literary equivalent of comfort food for her.
"Fudge" is the nickname of the little brother of the narrator of DOUBLE FUDGE, a seventh grader named Peter Hatcher. Peter, his parents, his little brother, properly named Farley Drexel Hatcher and who drives Peter nuts (for, among other things, his obsession with money), and their little sister Tootsie live in New York City. DOUBLE FUDGE is the first of the "Fudge" books I've read, but chronologically it's the last of the four. This one picks up with Peter and Fudge living in NYC again after having lived in Princeton the previous year.
There really isn't much of a story arc to DOUBLE FUDGE, but much of it revolves around long separated cousins from Hawaii, led by Cousin Howie, whom the Hatchers run into in the gift shop of the Bureau of Printing and Engraving in Washington, D.C. (As an adult reader, I kept thinking that there was something nefarious in this "coincidental" meeting, but alas nothing dark emerges.) They're a bit too exuberant and countercultural for Peter, who can barely tolerate them. After Cousin Howie's family end up inviting themselves to stay at Peter's home during a visit the City, Peter and Fudge have to cope with the unwelcome intruders. Much of the second half of the book has to do with that situation.
There are a number of subplots, e.g., Peter's best buddy moving several city blocks away, but since there isn't much of a main plot, it's difficult to characterize any of the action as being subordinate to or superfluous of the main story arc. In this respect, what Ms. Blume seems to have done is to have created a hyper real version of normal life--real life, in other words, doesn't usually have a plot--its verisimilitude broken principally by being funnier than real life.
This representation of real life leavened by humor is what seems to draw my daughter's interest. Frankly, the writing is not as strong as I might have expected from Ms. Blume; I don't think that it's being "just a children's book" is what excuses DOUBLE FUDGE of its rather prosaic and wooden passages. (Lewis Carroll didn't seem to "settle" when he wrote his ALICE books.) Nonetheless, Ms Blume does have a deft hand at comedic situations, and I laughed at times along with my daughter. In the end, the most important critic is my daughter. And she loves DOUBLE FUDGE. I look forward to reading the other FUDGE books with her, if nothing else but to hear her laugh.
(Later addendum: Now that I've read one of the earlier books in the series, FUDGE-A-MANIA, I'd add to this review that DOUBLE FUDGE might be anomalous. The writing in FUDGE-A-MANIA is much tighter and funnier, and more touching, and the story has a unity that is lacking in DOUBLE FUDGE.)
Summary of Double Fudge
Fans young and old will laugh out loud at the irrepressible wit of peter Hatcher, the hilarious antics of mischievous Fudge, and the unbreakable confidence of know-it-all sheila tubman in Judy blume's five Fudge books. brand-new covers adorn these perennial favorites, and will entice a whole new generation of Fudge-and Judy blume-fans.Book Subjects
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