Blubber by Judy Blume

Author:Judy Blume [Blume, Judy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Tags: Friendship, Social Issues, Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 9781447202912
Google: VEIyXwAACAAJ
Amazon: 0440407079
Publisher: Yearling
Published: 1974-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

That night I struggled over my math homework for an hour. I should be great at math since my father is a tax lawyer and my mother works with computers. I don't understand why I have such a hard time with word problems. Dad explained three of them to me but he doesn't set the problems up the way we're supposed to, so even though I got the right answers I knew Mrs. Minish would still mark some of them wrong. But I'd done my best and Mom and Dad always say that's what counts.

The next morning, when Linda got on the bus, she stood next to my seat and said, "You should see my stomach … it's all black and blue."

"I'll bet."

"It is. My mother had to take me to the doctor."

"So?"

"He said you knocked the wind out of me."

"I knew I smelled something bad yesterday!" I turned to Tracy and the two of us absolutely cracked up. I guess nobody ever told Linda about laughing it off.

Right after group science Mrs. Minish told the girls to line up alphabetically. "We're going to the nurse's office to get weighed."

Everybody groaned. We get weighed every fall and again every spring. If I had known that today was the day I'd have eaten a huge breakfast and worn my fisherman's sweater. It's the heaviest thing I own.

I was first on line, with Donna Davidson right behind me and Linda behind her. Wendy Caroline were near the end of the line since their last names start with R and T.

When we got to the office the nurse said, "Take off your shoes, please." Then she called, "Jill Brenner."

"Right here," I said. I didn't take off my sneakers. I was hoping that the nurse wouldn't notice. Then I'd weigh two pounds more and she wouldn't be able to give me a lecture about being underweight and how I should drink malteds every day.

"Please take off your shoes, Jill."

"I can't."

She gave me a funny look. "Why not?"

"I promised my mother I wouldn't. My feet get cold when I go barefoot."

"It will only be for a minute."

"I'll get sick if I do."

"Jill … stop being silly and take off your shoes."

"Oh … " I kicked off my sneakers and stepped on the scale.

I hoped it was at least five pounds overweight.

"Hmmmm … " the nurse said, wiggling the marker all around. "Sixty-seven and a half."

I smiled at her to show I was pleased.

She checked the chart. "That's not much of a gain … only half a pound since last spring."

"Well," I told her, "I guess I'm just lucky because I'm always eating."

"You should try to build yourself up. I'd like to see you weigh about seventy-two. Why don't you start drinking a malted every day?"

"Okay … " I said, stepping off the scale. I have never had a malted in my life but what the nurse doesn't know won't hurt her.

The nurse was pleased with Donna Davidson. She has one of those perfect bodies where everything fits the way it should.

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