''Fudge-a-Mania'' is a

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

children's novel Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

Judy Blume Judith Blume (née Sussman; born February 12, 1938) is an American writer of children's, young adult, and adult fiction. Blume began writing in 1959 and has published more than 26 novels. Among her best-known works are '' Are You There God? It's ...

and the fourth entry in the Fudge series.

Plot

Peter Hatcher Peter Warren Hatcher is a fictional character created by American author Judy Blume. He first appeared in the children's novel ''Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing'' and in several subsequent Blume stories, most of which focus on his younger brother F ...

is horrified to learn of his family's plans to spend summer in a vacation home alongside the Tubmans, the family of his archrival, Sheila, located in Southwest Harbor,

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. On the other hand, his younger brother,

Fudge ''Fudge'' is a generic role-playing game system for use in freeform role-playing games. The name "''FUDGE''" was once an acronym for ''Freeform Universal Donated'' (later, ''Do-it-yourself'') ''Gaming Engine'' and, though the acronym has since b ...

, who is five years old, anticipates the vacation because of his plans to marry Sheila as a means of protection against the supposed "monsters" hiding beneath his bed, knowing that spouses often share one. This wish is dropped after a newfound friend named Mitzi Apfel provides Fudge with a bottle containing her grandmother's "monster spray" during the vacation, but Peter is stunned to learn that she is the granddaughter of an idolized baseball player known as "Big Apfel". Peter is allowed to invite his best friend, Jimmy Fargo, on the vacation with him, a privilege intended to compensate for having to spend it alongside Sheila; however, he becomes irritated when Jimmy starts to spend more time with Sheila than with him out of sympathy for her own good friend's (Mouse, who was introduced in ''

Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great ''Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great'' is a children's novel by Judy Blume, first published in 1972. It is a spin-off novel to the Fudge series, being set shortly after ''Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing'', and centers on Peter Hatcher's neme ...

'') inability to join her on the vacation too, as she has chicken pox. Along the way, Peter develops a huge infatuation on a teenage librarian named Isobel (Izzy for short) and Fudge is inspired to write a picture book after learning about Mitzi's own, " Tell Me a Mitzi". Jimmy's father, Frank, a celebrated painter, also receives inspiration after the Hatchers' baby daughter, Tootsie, toddles across a canvas with blue paint smeared on her feet, commencing a series of paintings appropriately entitled "Baby Feet". Peter, Fudge and Tootsie's widowed grandmother, Muriel, later marries Sheila's widowed grandfather, Buzzy Senior, much to Peter and Sheila's dismay, who thereafter pledged they would never stand each other, despite now being step-cousins.

Reception

In its review of the book,

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

wrote that "the story's a bit tame (no controversies here), but often amusingly true to life and with enough comic episodes to satisfy fans".

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

called it a "fast-pitched, funny novel" and praised its "numerous diverting scenes".

Television adaptation

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

based on the book premiered on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

on January 7, 1995, in the United States, starring

Jake Richardson Jacob Matthew Richardson (born February 20, 1985) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the film '' Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves'' and the series ''Fudge''. Career Richardson landed his first acting role in 1995 at the ...

Florence Henderson Florence Agnes Henderson (February 14, 1934 – November 24, 2016) was an American singer and actress. With a career spanning six decades, she is best known for her starring role as Carol Brady on the ABC sitcom ''The Brady Bunch''. Henderson ...

Eve Plumb Eve Aline Plumb (born April 29, 1958) is an American actress, singer and painter. She is best known for portraying the middle daughter Jan Brady on the ABC sitcom ''The Brady Bunch''. A native of Southern California, Plumb began appearing in c ...

Shirley Knight Shirley Knight Hopkins (July 5, 1936 – April 22, 2020) was an American actress who appeared in more than 50 feature films, television films, television series, and Broadway and Off-Broadway productions in her career, playing leading and char ...

Alex Karras Alexander George Karras (July 15, 1935October 10, 2012) was an American professional American football, football player, professional wrestler, sportscaster, and actor. He was a four-time Pro Bowl selection playing defensive tackle for the Detro ...

Luke Tarsitano Luke Tarsitano (born March 18, 1990) is an American television actor. He played the character of Fudge in the series of that name and had guest appearances on ''Frasier'', ''Suddenly Susan'' and on ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno''. During one o ...

, and

Darren McGavin Darren McGavin (born William Lyle Richardson; May 7, 1922 – February 25, 2006) was an American actor. McGavin began his career working as a set painter for Columbia Pictures. In 1954, he originated roles in Broadway productions of '' My Three ...

. It was directed by

Bob Clark Benjamin Robert Clark (August 5, 1939 – April 4, 2007) was an American film director and screenwriter. In the 1970s and 1980s, he was responsible for some of the most successful films in Canadian film industry, Canadian film history such ...

. It also inspired a half-hour Saturday morning TV series, ''

'', which premiered on ABC the following Saturday morning; the show ran for two seasons.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fudge-A-Mania 1990 American novels American children's novels Fudge series Novels by Judy Blume Novels set in Maine Sequel novels 1990 children's books Children's books set in Maine