Freckle Juice

Judy Blume

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1978

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-2

Chapters 3-4

Chapter 5

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Chapters 3-4Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 3 Summary

Andrew “[makes] up his mind not to read [the recipe] until he [gets] home” (19). He runs to his neighbor’s house to get the key from his mother. She tells him that she will be home in one hour, and Andrew immediately rushes home to get to work. He reads the secret recipe and is surprised that it calls for “grape juice, vinegar, mustard, mayonnaise, juice from one lemon, pepper and salt, ketchup, olive oil, and a speck of onion” (22). Andrew is doubtful because these ingredients seem too ordinary to create a special recipe. Still, he decides that he already paid for the recipe, so he might as well find out. Sharon’s instructions tell him to “drink two glasses” if he wants to look like Nicky, but he decides to “start with just one glassful and then drink another if he want[s] more freckles” (23). Andrew mixes the ingredients together in a big glass, but when he smells the concoction, “IT SMELL[S] AWFUL! JUST PLAIN AWFUL!” (25). Andrew tastes it, and it’s terrible. Sharon’s instructions tell him to drink it fast, and Andrew wonders if Sharon didn’t think he would actually drink it. Stubbornly, he “[holds] his nose, tilt[s] his head back and gulp[s] down Sharon’s secret recipe for freckle juice” (26). Andrew immediately feels sick, like he might throw up the concoction. He believes that he’ll never get freckles if he throws up, so he must be strong. He crawls to the full-length mirror in his mother’s bedroom, and he “wait[s] for something to happen” (26).

Chapter 4 Summary

As Andrew waits for something to happen, he “turn[s] greenish and [feels] very sick” (27). His stomach hurts, but he still hopes that the freckle juice might work if he can keep it down long enough. His mother comes home right on time and finds him in her bedroom. She is confused, then concerned as she sees how green and sick he looks. She panics and declares that “[Andrew] must have appendicitis” (29). She rushes around, trying to decide whether to call an ambulance, but then she goes into the kitchen and sees Andrew’s mess from making the freckle juice. She returns to him and demands to know, “Did [he] or did [he] not make something and eat it?” (29). Andrew is too sick to answer, and his mother shifts to being angry with him. She declares that she is disappointed in him and orders him to bed. She gives him medicine, and Andrew wonders if the freckles might come out while he’s sleeping.

However, he feels so ill that “right now he didn’t care much if [the freckles] ever came out!” (30). He starts to realize that Sharon fooled him, that the freckle juice recipe was fake, and that he won’t be getting freckles at all. He has a terrible dream where “A big green monster make[s] him drink two quarts of freckle juice, three times a day” (30), and the monster gets freckles while Andrew doesn’t. He stays home from school the next day, and when freckles never form, Andrew accepts defeat. He decides that he “[isn’t] ever going back to school” (30) because he doesn’t want to give Sharon the chance to laugh at him. However, the next morning, Andrew’s mother wakes him up and orders him to get up and ready for school. Andrew doesn’t want to go, but he eventually concedes and decides that “he [can’t] let Sharon get away with it” (30).

Chapters 3-4 Analysis

Chapter 3 shows Andrew abandoning all doubts about the freckle juice recipe and moving full steam ahead with the plan to get freckles. Andrew continues to ignore the warning signs, such as the basic ingredients in the recipe and the terrible smell and taste of the freckle juice. Andrew’s hyper-fixation on getting freckles has already cost him 50 cents, and instead of knowing when to quit, Andrew’s stubborn determination pushes him to make and consume the freckle juice. Andrew knows deep down that the recipe is a crock, but he also knows that if he doesn’t at least give it a try, he might spend his whole life wondering if it could have worked. He has decided to commit to this endeavor, even if it means getting sick and losing his money for nothing. Sharon has tapped into the power behind plenty of successful companies and salespeople: “It might not work, but what if it does? The only way to find out is to try it for yourself.”

Chapter 4, however, shows the devastating aftermath of Andrew’s decisions. Not only does he realize that he lost five weeks’ worth of allowance in exchange for nothing more than a terrible stomach ache, but he has also disappointed his mother, and his pride is wounded. Any one of these things can be devastating to a person, let alone a child, but all of them at once bring Andrew to a low point. He is embarrassed by his poor decisions, and he is also coming to terms with the fact that he will never have freckles. He can’t escape from his shame in his dreams, where the freckle juice is waiting for him. Andrew feels helpless and declares that he is never going to school again. Of course, his mother will not allow a second-grade dropout in her house, and Andrew is left scrambling to figure out what to do. The thought of showing up to school without freckles is too much to bear, especially because he knows that Sharon will know that she won and outsmarted him.