Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume

I'm a little embarrased to admit that I'd never read a Judy Blume book. I know Superfudge and Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret were big hits when I was growing up. But I never picked them up, despite the fact I read a lot at that age.

And now, I have a son in 4th grade. And he was reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. So I decided to read it too. And here's my takeaway: 

Fudge is a terrible human being. Case in point: Fudge eats Peter's turtle, which makes him a monster. Full stop.

This book is supposed to be about Peter, but his 2 1/2  year-old brother Fudge consumes his life with awful, out of control behavior. And poor Peter has to constantly adjust and cater to it. It is so on brand that even a book about Peter ends up being about his annoying litter brother. 

Peter is well-behaved, hard-working, and responsible. His parents constantly ask him to do things to appease Fudge, or to stand aside while Fudge takes the limelight, or to redo his school project because Fudge destroyed it. 

I guess I had feelings while reading this book. I don't know if it's supposed to be funny, but I couldn't stop feeling bad for poor Peter while wanting to strangle Fudge. So I asked my fourth grader what he thought of the book and he agreed, "that kid's so annoying!"

So it's not just me or my adult perspective. Fudge is more horror villain than comedic device. But it made me feel something. And I guess that's the sign of a successful book, for better or worse.