Peter Hatcher can't get a break. His little brother, Fudge -- the five-year-old human hurricane -- has big plans to marry Peter's sworn enemy, Sheila Tubman. That alone would be enough to ruin Peter's summer, but now his parents have decided to rent a summer home next door to Sheila the Cootie Queen's house. Peter will be trapped with Fudge and Sheila for three whole weeks!
Chapter One
Who's the Lucky Bride?
"Guess what, Pete?" my brother, Fudge, said. "I'm getting married tomorrow."
I looked up from my baseball cards. "Isn't this kind of sudden?" I asked, since Fudge is only five.
"No," he said.
"Well ... who's the lucky bride?"
"Sheila Tubman," Fudge said.
I hit the floor, pretending to have fainted dead away. I did a good job of it because Fudge started shaking me and shouting, "Get up, Pete!"
What's with this Pete business? I thought. Ever since he could talk, he's called me Pee-tah.
Then Tootsie, my sister, who's just a year and a half, danced around me singing, "Up, Pee ... up."
Next, Mom was beside me saying, "Peter ... what happened? Are you all right?"
"I told him I was getting married," Fudge said. "And he just fell over."
"I fell over when you told me who you were marrying," I said.
"Who are you marrying, Fudge?" Mom asked, as if we were seriously discussing his wedding.
"Sheila Tubman," Fudge said.
"Don't say that name around me," I told him, "or I'll faint again."
"Speaking of Sheila Tubman ..." Mom began.
But I didn't wait for her to finish. "You're making me feel very sick ..." I warned.
"Really, Peter ..." Mom said. "Aren't you overdoing it?"
I clutched my stomach and moaned but Mom went right on talking. "Buzz Tubman is the one who told us about the house in Maine."
"M-a-i-n-e spells Maine," Fudge sang.
Mom looked at him but didn't even pause. "And this house is right next to the place they've rented for their vacation," she told me.
"I'm missing something here," I said. "What house? What vacation?"
"Remember we decided to go away for a few weeks in August?"
"Yeah ... so?"
"So we got a great deal on a house in Maine."
"And the Tubmans are going to be next door?" I couldn't believe this. "Sheila Tubman ... next door ... for two whole weeks?"
"Three," Mom said.
I fell back flat on the floor.
"He did it again, Mom!" Fudge said.
"He's just pretending," Mom told Fudge. "He's just being very silly."
"So I don't have to marry Sheila tomorrow," Fudge said. "I'll marry her in Maine."
"That makes more sense," Mom said. "In Maine you can have a nice wedding under the trees."
"Under the trees," Fudge said.
"Tees ..." Tootsie said, throwing a handful of Gummi Bears in my face.
And that's how it all began.
Chapter Two
Pete and Farley
That night we went to Tico-Taco for supper. I wasn't very hungry. The idea of spending three weeks next door to Sheila Tubman was enough to take away my appetite. I wish the Tubmans would move to another planet! But until that happens there's no way to avoid Sheila. She lives in our apartment building. We go to the same school.
I kind of groaned and Dad looked at me. "What is it, Peter?"
"Sheila Tubman," I said.
"What about her?" Dad asked.
"We're getting married," Fudge said, his mouth full of chicken and taco shell.
"I'm not talking about your wedding," I s...aid. "I'm talking about spending three weeks in Maine next door to the Tubmans."
"It won't be as bad as you think," Mom said.
"You don't know how bad I think it will be!"
"Sheila's older now. She's finished sixth grade, same as you."
"What's age got to do with it?" I said. "She'll still be the Queen of Cooties."
"What's cooties?" Fudge asked.
When I didn't answer he tugged on my sleeve. "What's cooties, Pete?"
"Since when am I Pete?" I asked, shaking him off.
"Since today," he said.
"Well, I prefer Peter, if you don't mind."
"Pete is a better name for a big brother."
"And Farley is a better name for a little brother!" I figured that would shut him up since his real name is Farley Drexel Hatcher and he's ready to kill anybody who calls him that.
"Don't call me Farley!" he said. Then he really let go and yelled, "I'm Fudge!"
Judy Blume [Àú]
Judy Blume is the enduringly popular author of more than twenty books for young readers. Over 75 million copies of her books have been sold, and the Fudge books are timeless classics. Among Ms. Blume¡¯s many awards are the Margaret A. Edwards Award for Lifetime Achievement and the 2004 National Book Foundation¡¯s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. She lives with her husband, George Cooper, in Key West, Florida.