Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great

Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great

Hardcover - USA - 1st edition.

Author Judy Blume Published 1972-??-?? Type Fiction Genre Drama Themes Drama, Friendship Age Group Children

Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great is a young adult book written by Judy Blume and first published in 1972. It is the second book in the Fudge series. The story is told from the perspective of ten-year-old Shelia Tubman, first seen in Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, who lives with her mother, father, and older sister Libby. Shelia is very insecure and terrified of many things, and she masks her fears by lying.

Personal

Own?	Paperback.
Read?	Paperback.
Finished	1989 / 2018-08-24.

I first experienced this book in the fourth grade when my teacher read it to the class over the course of a couple weeks. I ended up missing one chapter because I was misbehaving and had to sit out in the hall. I never read the book again until my late 30s, and I was surprised at how much I still remembered.

Review

Overall:

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• I like how the book describes Shelia's lying, why she does it, how it puts her in awkward situations, and, how she eventually becomes more confident and doesn't need to do it so much.
• Shelia, when she actually tries to accomplish something, like learning to swim, is able to do it, and her friends cheer her on.
• The slam book was a nice addition which shows the difficulty of accepting harsh truths about yourself from your peers.

Bad

• Shelia is annoying. She's mean to her friends, lies to everyone, and doesn't have very many redeemable traits.
• A fair amount of the book doesn't really go anywhere. The Peter Pan play, for example, didn't really need to be in the book.
• The book kind of just peters out without a meaningful ending.

Ugly

• Nothing.

Representation

Strong female character?	Pass
Bechdel test?	Pass
Strong person of color character?	Fail
Queer character?	Fail

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