Freckle Juice

by Judy Blume, Debbie Ridpath Ohi (Illustrator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

A simple quest to get freckles goes awry, and now Andrew has to come to terms with himself and what he really wants. You can't go wrong with Judy Blume.

More than anything in the world, Andrew wants freckles. His classmate Nicky has freckles -- they cover his face, his ears, and the whole back of his neck. (Once sitting behind him in class, Andrew counted eighty-six of them, and that was just a start!

One day after school, Andrew screws up enough courage to ask Nicky where he got his freckles. And, as luck would have it, who should overhear him but giggling, teasing Sharon (who makes frog faces at everybody!)

Sharon offers Andrew her secret freckle juice recipe -- for fifty cents.

That's a lot of money to Andrew -- five whole weeks allowance! He spends a sleepless night, torn between his desire for freckles and his reluctance to part with such a substantial sum of money. Finally, the freckles win, and Andrew decides to accept Sharon's offer.

After school, Andrew rushes home (with the recipe tucked into his shoe for safekeeping). He carefully begins to mix the strange combination of ingredients -- and immediately runs into some unforeseen problems.

How Andrew finally manages to achieve a temporary set of freckles -- and then isn't sure he really wants them -- makes a warm and hilarious story.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781665980838
Publisher:	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	11/05/2024
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	64
File size:	12 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	6 - 10 Years

About the Author

Judy Blume, one of America’s most popular authors, is the recipient of the 2004 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. She is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of beloved books for young people, including Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (which celebrated fifty years in 2020), and novels for adult readers, including Wifey, Summer Sisters, and In the Unlikely Event. Her work has been translated into thirty-two languages. Visit Judy at JudyBlume.com or follow her on Twitter at @JudyBlume.

Debbie Ridpath Ohi’s writing or art has appeared in over twenty books for young people. She is the award-winning author and illustrator of Where Are My Books?, I Want to Read ALL the Books, and Sam & Eva with Simon & Schuster. Her illustrations appear in books by Judy Blume, Michael Ian Black, and Linda Sue Park, among others. Debbie lives with her husband in Toronto, Canada. For more info, see DebbieOhi.com.

Hometown:

New York's Upper East Side, Key West, and Martha's Vineyard

Date of Birth:

February 12, 1938

Place of Birth:

Elizabeth, New Jersey

Education:

B.S. in education, New York University, 1961

Website:

http://www.judyblume.com/

Read an Excerpt

1

Andrew Marcus wanted freckles. Nicky lane had freckles. He had about a million of them. They covered his face, his ears and the back of his neck. Andrew didn’t have any freckles. He had two warts on his finger. But they didn’t do him any good at all. If he had freckles like Nicky, his mother would never know if his neck was dirty. So he wouldn’t have to wash. And then he’d never be late for school.
Andrew had plenty of time to look at Nicky’s freckles. He sat right behind him in class. Once he even tried to count them. But when he got to eighty-six Miss Kelly called, “Andrew… are you paying attention?”
“Yes, Miss Kelly,” Andrew said. “Good, Andrew. I’m glad to hear that. Now will you please pick up your chair and your reading goup? We’re all waiting for you.”
Andrew stood up in a hurry. His reading group giggled. Especially Sharon. He couldn’t stand that Sharon. She thought she knew everything! He picked up his chair and carried it to the corner where his reading group sat.
“You may begin, Andrew,” Miss Kelly said. “Page sixty-four.”
Andrew turned the pages in his book. Sixty-four…sixty-four. He couldn’t find it. The pages stuck together. Why did Miss Kelly have to pick him?
Everybody else already had their books opened to the right page.
Sharon kept giggling. She covered her mouth to keep in the noise, but Andrew knew what was going on. He finally found page sixty-four. Right where it was supposed to be…between pages sixty-three and sixty-five. If he had his own freckles he wouldn’t haveLane’s. Then he’d here Miss Kelly when she called reading groups. And nobody would laugh at him.
Later, when the bell rang, Andrew poked Nicky Lane.
“What do you want?” Nicky asked, turning around. “I was wondering about your freckles,” Andrew said.
“Oh yeah? What about them?”
Andrew felt pretty stupid. “Well, how did you get them?”
“What do you mean how? You get born with them. That’s how!”
Andrew thought that’s what Nicky would say.
Some help he was!
“Line up, boys and girls,” Miss Kelly said. “Time to go home now. Sharon, you may lead the girls. Andrew, you may lead the boys.”
Some luck! Just when he got to be leader he had to stand next to Sharon!
When they were in line Sharon whispered to Andrew. “Psst… I know how to get them.”
“How to get what?” Andrew asked.
“Freckles,” Sharon said.
“Who asked you?”
“I heard you ask Nicky about his.” Sharon ran her tongue along her teeth. She was always doing that.
“Do you want to know how to get them?” Sharon asked.
“Maybe,” Andrew told her.
“It’ll cost you fifty cents. I have a secret recipe for freckle juice,” Sharon whispered.
“A secret recipe?”
“Uh-huh.”
Sharon’s tongue reminded Andrew of a frog catching flies. He wondered if Sharon ever got a mouthful of bugs the way she opened her mouth and wiggled her tongue around. Andrew freckles!” he said.
“Look close,” Sharon said. “I’ve got six on my nose.”
“Big deal! A lot of good six will do.”
“You can get as many as you want. Six was enough for me. It all depend on how much freckle juice you drink.”
Andrew didn’t believe Sharon for a minute. Not one minute! There was no such thing as freckle juice. Andrew had never heard of it before!

Copyright 1978 by Judy Blume

Editorial Reviews

"Spontaneous humor, sure to appeal to the youngest reader." — The Horn Book Magazine

From the Publisher