Otherwise Known As Sheila the Great

The only reason I finished this book was because it is short and I am stubborn.

Listen, I understand kids come in all shapes and sizes, and some are a little messier and more complicated than others, that doesn’t necessarily make them bad protagonists. But when they’re so utterly unlikeable, and there’s no redemption at the end of the book? No thanks.

Sure, Shiela gets the message that being scared is ok, and she admits her fear (in one area) and finds out it’s not so scary after all, and then another thing she’s scared of turns out to also be not quite so scary, but these things don’t stop her from being an insufferable braggart who can’t seem to admit she’s not the best at everything.

I don’t know why she’s learning show more more from her peers than her parents about life and being scared, it certainly doesn’t make her folks seem all that involved or interested. And in general, no one seems to push back against her pompous behavior, except maybe her big sister. On the one hand Mouse could be seen as a pretty good friend for looking past her ridiculous assertions of her yo-yo prowess and newspaper writing abilities and choosing to be her friend anyway. On the other hand, literally no one calls her out for being a liar and a snot and how is this girl going to know it’s not ok to behave that way? show less

Otherwise Known As Sheila the Great is a middle-grade children’s book and the second in Judy Blume’s Fudge series. It’s written in the first-person perspective of Sheila Tubman, a supporting character who was introduced in Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. Sheila wants to go to Disneyland for summer vacation, but her parents have said no. Instead, they’re borrowing a big house from a colleague of her dad in Tarrytown, New York, for the entire summer to have a break from the big city. At first it sounds great, because she’ll have her own room and won’t have to share with her older sister like she does at home. But then she finds out the owners have a dog they expect them to care for and Sheila is afraid of dogs. Her mom also show more expects her to learn how to swim, but she’s afraid of that, too. Still, she tries to make the most of it, enjoying activities at the summer day camp her parents send them to, and striking up a friendship with Mouse, a girl her age who lives down the road. Unfortunately, though, Sheila is a bit of a know-it-all, who can’t seem to admit when she doesn’t know how to do something, nor can she admit that she’s scared of any of the things that frighten her. But Mouse sees through her facade and likes her anyway. By the end of the summer, Sheila just might find that she actually can do things she didn’t think she could and that dogs aren’t quite as scary as she thought.

While I’m certain that I read Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing as a kid, I can’t recall if I ever read Otherwise Known As Sheila the Great, but it’s possible. Whether I did or didn’t, though, the story didn’t seem particularly familiar to me. I came away from reading it having mixed feelings. I had some concerns about the girls writing slam books, which seemed pretty mean-spirited, and how they call one of the girls “fat.” I also had some issues with Sheila. On the one hand I related to her fears about various things like spiders, thunderstorms, and swimming. I, too, harbored all those fears as a child and still can’t swim even as adult. Dogs, however, were a little different for me. Dogs barking at me never failed to rattle me, but I wasn’t afraid to be around nice, quiet dogs like Sheila is. On the other hand, Sheila has a habit of lying about both her fears and her ability to do things, which can lead to trouble and sometimes rubbed me the wrong way. I understand being insecure and not wanting to look silly in front of your peers, but at the same time, I didn’t feel like this was a healthy way to handle things. I freely admit that some might find all of this humorous or amusing, but my taste in humor doesn’t extend to this type of behavior. Luckily Sheila has Mouse who totally sees through her stories and calls her out more than once. Also, she does learn by the end that she can overcome the things that scare her even though she more or less fights it every step of the way, so there is a good message in there for kids. I just wasn’t sure that Sheila was the best role model to deliver it, but it's certainly possible that some kids may relate to her quite well. Overall, even though it won’t go down as a favorite, this was still a pretty good book that had some enjoyable parts. show less

I loved reading about Sheila and the Tubmans and their wonderfully realistic experiences. Sheila is the ultimate combination of a cocky yet insecure young adult and the lessons she learns are universal. This is a book who's moral, "that it's better to admit you don't know than to pretend to know it all" should be shared by all. I can think of a few people I'd like to lend it to:) A great book for all preteens who are entering that uncomfortable place of the unknown and the uncomfortable. And I got more than a few good laughs too.

Sheila is afraid of a lot of things - dogs, swimming, spiders - but admitting when she's scared or doesn't know how to do something might be the scariest thing of all. Over a summer in Tarrytown, Sheila's new friend Mouse helps her face some of her fears and learn to admit to her shortcomings. Sheila's older sister gets annoyed with her and makes fun of her; Sheila's parents are sympathetic but firm (she doesn't have to play with Jennifer, the dog, but she must learn to swim).

Quotes

"You see," Mouse explained, "we'd never be brave enough to just sit around and tell each other the truth about ourselves. That would be too embarrassing. But since everybody wants to know what other people really think of them, this is an easy way to find show more out. (103) show less

I grew up mainly reading Judy Blume's teenage books and always falling in love with them. I did read some of her kid books as well, such as Blubber, but what fun this was to revisit as an adult.

Sheila isn't the most likeable sort with her traits but this makes her more realistic. Her inner musings about various fears and her unique ways of seeing things crack me up. In a distant way this book reminds me of an early, female, novelized version of Diary of a Wimpy kid novels. Here she's struggling with a family trip and being away, and also having to act braver around her new friend, Mouse, who seems much braver with every circumstance. The humor of the make believe and having to put up a front which is not real sounds about right for what show more kids go through. Of course there are exaggerations to make it work better as an enjoyable book.

This was received poorer among readers of the series for not having Fudge in it. Sheila is the role here and takes all the stage through random adventures. In a way it would make sense for Blume to have made this not part of the "Fudge" series, but since it's the rest of the same cast and they wanted to benefit from the payroll of the first book, it makes sense as well to keep it part of the series.

Blume has such a way with words and making characters exciting for all ages in the most ordinary of circumstances. Here there's some exaggerated humor that works wonderfully with the type and age. I love how Blume always wrote a book perfect for the age group she aimed for, but used words and hints that adults would get and understand as well. show less

I really don't like Sheila. The book was fine, the characters were good, and Sheila was certainly well written. I just didn't enjoy spending time with her.

I enjoyed this book because the plot was organized and flowed smoothy. This book is about a girl named Shelia who is afraid of many things such as, the dark, spiders, swimming, and dogs. After her family decides to go on a summer vacation, Shelia ends up facing all of her fears. Eventually she moves past almost all of them as the summer vacation comes to a close. For example, after taking some swimming lessons while on vacation Shelia finally got over her fear of swimming. She states, "I can swim. I proved it to everyone, including myself! I am Sunny Tubman, girl swimmer! I am Super Shelia the Swimming Wonder." The big idea behind this book is that if you face your fears head on, you can eventually get over them.