Freckle Juice is a 1971

1971 in literature

The year 1971 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*The Destiny Waltz by Gerda Charles wins the UK's first Whitbread Novel of the Year Award.-New books:*Hiroshi Aramata - Teito Monogatari...

  children's book by Judy Blume

Judy Blume

Judy Blume is an American author. She has written many novels for children and young adults which have exceeded sales of 80 million and been translated into 31 languages...

. This short story is about Andrew Marcus, a second grade

Second grade

In the United States, second grade is a year of primary education. Second grade is the second school year after kindergarten. Students are traditionally 7–8 years old, depending on when their birthday occurs....

 student

Student

A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...

, who wants to look like Nicky Lane.

Summary

Nicky Lane has numerous freckles all over his face, ears, and neck. Andrew only had two warts on his fingers. He tried counting all of Nicky's freckles one day, but when he got to eighty-six Miss Kelly, his teacher, told him to pay attention. He wants to have his own so his mother will not be able to tell if his neck and face are dirty and he would not have to wash them. He makes many attempts to get some.

After asking Nicky how he got his freckles, and getting the expected answer ("you get born with them"), a girl in his class named Sharon, who often fools him by using sneaky tricks, tells him he can get freckles by drinking a concoction that she claims she used to get freckles, or rather six. She gives him the recipe for "Freckle Juice" for fifty cents. He thinks it's ridiculous that he has to use five weeks worth of allowance for a recipe, but he is dying to get freckles. After school, he runs home to make the recipe which calls for several disgusting ingredients (some of which he didn't have and had to use substitutes). He ends up drinking it, after which he gets very sick. His mother comes home, notices how sick he looks, and after scolding him for making what he made to get sick, puts him to bed immediately. She gives him pink medicine which tastes like peppermint to get better. He skips school the next day because he still feels queasy. He never wants to go back, but his mother makes him.

Before he goes to school, Andrew tried to find a brown marker but could not find one so he used a blue marker to draw several little dots on his face. He believes this will make him look like he got freckles, which would prove Sharon wrong. He knew her recipe was only a joke to fool him. Unfortunately, everybody, including Sharon, sees through this idea and ends up laughing at him.

Miss Kelly gives Andrew her secret formula for removing freckles so he can do so to his blue "ones". Ironically, Nicky Lane, the boy he envied because of his real freckles, asks her if he could use the secret formula as well because he hates them. She explains freckles did not look good on Andrew, but they look good on him. Later, Sharon whispers to him about this recipe for a concoction that can get rid of his freckles.

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