Superfudge

Fudge begins writing his letter to Santa shortly after Thanksgiving. He can only write his name and scribble, so Peter helps him write the letter. Fudge asks for a red bike “just like Pee-tah’s” (137), much to Peter’s chagrin. Dad is present but distant, busy reading a Chinese cookbook. Peter remarks on how his dad leaves him out of things, and his dad replies in a dismissive way. When Fudge starts asking about how gifts from Santa work, Peter explains that things cost money. This confuses Fudge due to his image of Santa in the workshop, and Peter becomes concerned. He stopped believing in Santa at age three when he saw his parents putting presents under the tree on Christmas Eve and worries about Fudge’s lack of understanding about poverty and the hardships of others. When Peter talks to his mom about it, she disagrees that it is a problem, which upsets Peter further.

Peter’s classroom is decorated, and festivities abound. Peter and Joanne end up under mistletoe together and kiss each other on the cheek. In the days leading up to Christmas, Fudge asks Peter to write his own letter to Santa, as well as one for Tootsie and Turtle. Peter does not like entertaining the idea but plays along for Fudge’s sake. Christmas day arrives and Fudge wakes everyone up early. He gets his bright red bicycle, and Tootsie and Turtle get everything on their lists too. Later that day, Fudge crawls into bed with Peter and reveals that he does not believe in Santa at all; instead, he pretends for the sake of his parents. Peter is surprised and relieved at his brother’s wiliness. Fudge proclaims himself “a great pretender” and Peter replies, “Yeah, you’re the best” (147).

Jimmy comes to visit again and admits to being angry about his parents’ divorce. Peter’s dad’s book project is not going well, and Peter begins to worry about signs of divorce, but after a couple of weeks of observing, notices nothing unusual and forgets about it. Tootsie turns one year old, learns to walk, and Peter jokes that she starts creating little catastrophes everywhere she goes. Fudge asks what a catastrophe is, and Peter explains. Fudge has his own catastrophe on his new bike as he learns to ride. He crashes into the bike rack on his first ride to school and scrapes his elbows and knees. While he is in the nurse’s office with Peter, the principal hears him howling from the pain of the peroxide and comes to see what the matter is. He tells Fudge that Brian Tumkin, a famous children’s author, is at the school for a visit. Tumkin is Fudge’s favorite author, and he gets excited about the news.

Brian Tumkin comes on stage pretending to hold the hand of an imaginary child. When he asks who sees the child, Fudge is the only one to answer, “I see him!” (155) and Tumkin calls him up on stage to assist. He tells Fudge to describe a person, and Tumkin will draw him on the chalkboard. Fudge begins describing a man with a “big fat belly” who walks like a duck (156). Peter sees the gag, but Tumkin is unaware who he is drawing. When he asks Fudge who it is, Fudge announces that it is the principal, Mr. Green. Everyone laughs, but Mr. Green handles the situation smoothly by complimenting the portrait and asking to keep it for his office. Fudge asks, “Mr. Green, was this a catastrophe?” and Mr. Green replies, “Not quite, Fudge. But I’m sure you’ll try harder next time” (159).

Fudge wakes Peter up one morning in May, telling him he’s late for school. Peter jumps up in a panic and Fudge tells him it’s Saturday—a successful prank. Peter is enraged but cannot fall back asleep, so he goes to see Tootsie in her crib. He changes her diaper and takes her downstairs to feed her, having now fully embraced his role as an older brother. Peter gets revenge on Fudge by holding him upside down until he apologizes and swears never to wake him up on a weekend again, but Fudge tricks Peter once more by crossing his fingers while promising.

Peter and Alex decide to go for a picnic by the lake, and when they refuse to take Fudge, he screams and throws rocks at them. When Peter returns home later that afternoon, he and his mother discover that Fudge is gone. They call Daniel’s house and neither Daniel nor Fudge is there. Daniel’s mother rushes over and they try to figure out where the two boys may have gone. The phone rings, and Peter answers. Fudge excitedly explains that he and Daniel rode their bikes down the highway to the bakery, and both boys have their bike privileges removed for a month as punishment.

In the final scene of the novel, the Hatcher family are sitting around the table building a puzzle of a sunset together. The question of whether to move back to New York or stay in Princeton is raised. Both Peter’s mom and dad want to return to work for career reasons, Fudge does not remember New York, and Peter is unsure because he has bonded with both places now. Fudge asks Tootsie what she would prefer, and Tootsie says “yuck!” Peter is “the only one who knew that Tootsie had been saying yuck all day;” he decides to keep quiet because Fudge mistakes “yuck” for “York” and says she wants to move back to Manhattan. Peter is happy at the thought of going back to his old life in the city because “it’s all worth it” (178).