Fudge-a-Mania
 First edition | |
| Author | Judy Blume |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's novel |
| Publisher | Dutton Children's Books |
Publication date | 1990 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 160 pp |
| ISBN | 0-525-44672-9 |
| OCLC | 22115812 |
| LC Class | PZ7.B6265 Fu 1990 |
| Preceded by | Superfudge |
| Followed by | Double Fudge |
Fudge-a-Mania is a 1990 children's novel by Judy Blume and the third in the "Fudge" series (fourth if Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great is counted as part of the series).
Plot
Peter Hatcher is horrfied to learn of his family's plans to spend their summer in a vacation home alongside the Tubmans, the family of his archrival Sheila Tubman, located in Southwest Harbor, Maine. On the other hand, his younger brother Fudge 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 a bed. Fortunately, this wish is pacified and dropped after a newfound friend in a small girl named Mitzi provides him with a bottle containing her grandmother's "monster spray" during the vacation, but Peter is stunned to learn that Mitzi is the granddaughter of an idolized baseball player known as "Big Apfel." Also, along the way, he invites his closest friend Jimmy Fargo on the trip with him, a privilege gifted to compensate for having to spend a vacation alongside Sheila, but is irritated when Jimmy starts to spend more time with her than with him out of sympathy for her own good friend's inability to join her on the trip too. Along the way, Peter develops a huge infatuation on a teenage librarian named Isobel and Fudge is inspired to author a picture book after learning about Mitzi's own book, "Tell Me a Mitzi." Frank Fargo, Jimmy's father, 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."
To Peter's amazement, the group of townspeople and vacationers schedule a baseball game alongside Big Apfel, albeit he is disappointed to learn of the player's views on how it should be played. He also loses his spark for Isobel after she selects a different player for her team during the game, and both he and Sheila are horrified to learn about their grandparents' blossomed romance over the vacation and their decision to marry. In spite of all that has taken place over the vacation stay, both Sheila and Peter agree to permanently bond their rivalry and always loathe one another.
Television adaptation
A television movie based on the book was released on January 7, 1995, in the USA, starring Jake Richardson, Florence Henderson, Eve Plumb, Shirley Knight, Alex Karras, Luke Tarsitano, and Darren McGavin. It was directed by Bob Clark. The show also inspired a half-hour Saturday morning TV series, Fudge, which aired from January