Although I've heard of Judy Blume and own a couple of her novels (obtained free from my local swap shop) I was not aware that she also writes for children. I was quite surprised, also, when I found out that this story "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" won the Great Stone Face award in 1972.

Today there are so many more authors out there since it is now possible to self-publish your own novels (and have them printed and/or made into ebooks). But back in the 70's there was little more than a handful of publishers you were competing for to publish your book. Because of this I think the quality of work that was published was probably superior to what we see now. Personally, I have seen far too many errors in some of the novels that people are sending out to the public than there should be. But that's another story for a later time.

And it leads me back to this little novel. It was well-written and I have no doubt anyone who has a child can sympathize and relate to a mom with a two-year-old. The story is from the older brother's perspective, Peter, who at nine has no patience for his little brother's antics.

I have to admit, the little brother (nickname 'Fudge', which I think was the first thing that annoyed me about the child) really had no redeeming qualities, especially not to Peter, and he seems determined to ruin everything in Peter's life when in fact he mostly just wants to be just like his brother. No surprise there.

In conclusion, I did not particularly care for the story although it was an engaging read. I was happy when it was over, though. Since it is written for children, perhaps a nine-year-old with a two-year-old younger sibling could feel relief knowing they were not alone in their situation and will happily relate to this tale.

I rate Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing 2 out of 5 stars. **

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