Chapter 1

1

Sally had a scab on her knee from falling off her bicycle last week. It itched. She scratched the area around it, knowing that the scab wasn’t ready to come off yet. She was sitting on the high-backed chair near the fireplace and her feet didn’t quite reach the floor. She wished they would.

“Little pitchers have big ears,” Uncle Jack said, with a nod in her direction. On the far side of the livingroom Mom, Ma Fanny, Aunt Bette and Uncle Jack were huddled together. They spoke in hushed voices so that Sally could make out only a few words.

“God forbid… keep your fingers crossed… never should have gone there…”

They were talking about Douglas. Something had happened to him. Sally wasn’t exactly sure what, but Daddy was at the hospital now, with Douglas, and Mom was waiting impatiently for the phone to ring, with news about him.

Sally ran her hands along the arms of the chair. It was covered in pink and green flowered material, shiny and almost new. The whole livingroom was pink and green although Mom didn’t say pink. She said rose-beige. It was a beautiful room, soft and peaceful. Sally loved it. She wished they used it every day and not just on special occasions.

One Sunday her father built a fire in the brick fireplace and he and Sally and Douglas sat around on the floor reading the funnies. But Mom said it made a mess. So they’d had no more log fires. On either side of the fireplace bookcases climbed to the ceiling and between them, and over the fireplace, was a large mirror, reflecting the rest of the room.

Something had to be very wrong with Douglas. Otherwise why were they sitting in the livingroom tonight?

“Stop picking, Sally…” Mom said. “You’ll only make it worse.”

Sally took her hand away from her knee. She twirled a strand of hair around her finger and yawned.

“Why don’t you go up to bed?” Mom asked. “Look how tired you are.”

“I’m not tired.”

“Don’t give me a hard time,” Mom snapped. “Just go on up…”

Aunt Bette touched Mom’s shoulder, then walked over to Sally. “Come on,” she said. “I’ll keep you company while you get ready.”

They went upstairs to Sally’s room. Aunt Bette flopped across the bed. She was Mom’s younger sister. She taught fourth grade and sometimes she brought marbles to Sally and Douglas, marbles that had wound up in her Treasure Chest because someone in her class had been fooling around with them instead of paying attention. And once a marble found its way into Aunt Bette’s Treasure Chest the owner could kiss it goodbye. That’s why Douglas and Sally had such great marble collections. Sally’s favorite was clear green all over.

“Mom’s mad at me,” Sally said, “and I didn’t do anything.”

“She’s not mad,” Aunt Bette said. “She’s worried about Douglas, that’s all.”

“She acted mad… she didn’t have to holler.”

“Try to understand.”

“What’s the matter with Douglas, anyway?”

“He’s had an accident.”

Sally knew that. She’d been outside tossing her pink Spalding ball against the side of the house when two boys carried Douglas to the back door. There’d been a big commotion then and Sally was sure of just one thing. Douglas was crying. She’d been surprised about that.

“They were playing in Union Woods,” Aunt Bette said, “and Douglas tried to jump across the brook but he lost his balance and fell and when he did he dislocated his elbow.”

“We’re not supposed to play in Union Woods,” Sally said. There was a strange man who hung out in there. Last month the principal of Sally’s school had sent a notice to each classroom, warning the kids not to go into Union Woods anymore. That afternoon Sally had asked Douglas, “Do you know about the strange man in Union Woods?” and Douglas had answered, “Sure.”

“What kind of strange man is he?” Sally said.

“What do you mean?” Douglas asked.

“Is he a murderer or a kidnapper or what?”

“He’s just strange,” Douglas told her.

“What does that mean?”

“You know…”

“No, I don’t!”

“Well… he’s kind of crazy,” Douglas said.

“Oh, crazy.” Sally thought about that for a minute. “Crazy how?”

“In general,” Douglas said.

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t have time to explain now… I’m busy…” and before Sally could ask another question Douglas had run downstairs to his basement workshop and shut the door.

Sally supposed Douglas and his friends weren’t afraid to go into Union Woods because they were older. They were thirteen and went to junior high. “Is it bad to dislocate your elbow?” Sally asked Aunt Bette.

“It’s like breaking your arm… he’ll have a cast when he comes home from the hospital.”

“Like Suzanne Beardsley?”

“I don’t know her.”

“She’s in my class. She broke her wrist taking out the milk bottles and she had a cast for two months and we all signed our names on it.”

“I’m sure Douglas will let you sign your name on his cast too. Now brush your teeth and hop into bed. It’s past ten.”

“Can I listen to my radio?”

“Okay… but just for a little while.”

Sally got ready for bed. Her mother came up to kiss her goodnight. “I didn’t mean to scold you,” she said. “It’s just that…”

“I know,” Sally said, “you’re worried about Douglas.”

“Well, yes… waiting is very hard. I should have gone to the hospital too.”

“Will Douglas be home soon?”

“I hope so. Daddy’s going to call as soon as his arm is reset.”

“Reset?”

“Yes… to get the elbow back in place.”

“Oh.”

“Good night… sleep tight.” Mom bent over to kiss her cheek and Sally could smell the pot roast they’d had for dinner on her hands.

“Night, Mom.”

Sally closed her eyes but she couldn’t fall asleep. Even her radio didn’t help, so after a while she reached over and turned it off. Then she arranged her covers in just the right way, with both her hands tucked inside, and she closed her eyes again, but still, sleep wouldn’t come. So she made up a story inside her head.

Sally Meets the Stranger

Sally is walking in Union Woods, picking flowers and humming a tune. She is wearing a long, yellow organdy dress and a picture hat to match. Her hair is blowing in the breeze. Suddenly, she is aware of someone following her. She spins around and comes face to face with the strange man. He has a long, shaggy gray beard and a foolish smile on his face. Saliva trickles out of the corners of his mouth. His clothes are tattered and his bare feet are crusted with dirt.

Oh! Sally exclaims and she drops her flowers. The strange man makes terrible noises and Sally tries to run but finds that she can’t. Her feet won’t move. The strange man comes closer and closer. Sally takes off her hat and swats his face with it but since it is made of organdy it doesn’t do any good. He scoops her up and carries her deep into Union Woods.

You’re going to be very sorry! Sally tells him, as he prepares to tie her to a tree. He answers, Ugr harmph vilda phud, then laughs as he winds the rope tighter and tighter around Sally’s small body.

But he is so strange he forgets to tie the two ends of the rope together and as soon as he goes back to his hut Sally wiggles free and runs. She doesn’t stop until she reaches police headquarters, where she tells her story to the Chief of Police himself. Then she leads him and two of his assistants to the strange man’s hut. The strange man is captured at last! Never again will he be able to tie a girl to a tree.

The Chief of Police is so impressed that he makes Sally his number one detective, specializing in strange cases. A Hollywood producer decides to make a movie of Sally’s story. But he can’t find the right ten-year-old girl to play the lead. He decides he must have Sally herself and that is how Sally gets to be not only a famous detective but also a movie star.

Sometime that night Douglas came home from the hospital. Sally woke to her parent’s voices. Mom cried, “His clothes are wet… my God, Arnold, he’s soaked right through.”

“From the brook,” Daddy said. “He fell into the brook… remember?”

“But the hospital…” Mom said, “how could they have left him in these wet clothes for so long… he’ll get pneumonia or something… I knew I should have gone too.”

Discussion Guide for

Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself

By Judy Blume

1. Setting is the time and place in which a novel takes place. What is the setting of this book? Explain how the events and daily lives of the characters help establish the setting.

2. Conflict in a novel is the problem to be solved. Identify the conflict of this novel. At what point is the conflict revealed? Many of Blume’s novels are told in first person. This novel is in third person. Discuss the difference in first- and third-person perspectives. Explain why telling this novel in third person is especially effective.

3. Describe Sally’s family. Discuss her relationship with her parents. How is Sally especially close to her grandmother, Ma Fanny? Who are Aunt Bette and Uncle Jack? What are their roles in the story? What is Sally’s relationship with Douglas, her older brother? Explain how their age difference defines their relationship. Discuss what Mrs. Freedman means when she accuses Douglas of chasing trouble.

4. Sally’s father says that her mother worries a lot. Cite evidence that his claim is true. How does she worry more about what might happen, rather than what does happen? Explain how her worries prevent her from doing exciting things. What is Mrs. Freedman’s greatest adventure? How does having Ma Fanny along help?

5. Explain what Uncle Jack means by “Little pitchers have big ears.” (p. 15) How does her family’s secrecy about things cause Sally’s imagination to spike? Cite evidence throughout the novel that Sally has a vivid imagination. How does Sally’s imagination sometimes cause her trouble?

6. In New Jersey, Sally likes to make up stories when playing with her friends in her playhouse. One story she likes to dramatize is about Hitler’s concentration camps. Who are Tante Rose and Lila, the characters in her story? Later she imagines Mr. Zavodsky as Hitler. Debate whether Sally has a full understanding of the Holocaust.

7. Douglas is fragile from a recent illness, and Mr. and Mrs. Freedman think he needs a warmer climate. They look for an apartment in Miami. What does Sally’s dad mean when he says he had to pay “under the table” to get a place to lease? Describe the apartment in Miami. How is living in such a small space an adjustment for Sally and her family?

8. Dr. Freedman wants Sally to be adventurous. Chart the many adventures that Sally experiences from the time they leave New Jersey through their entire year in Miami. Select one of Sally’s adventures in Miami and retell it as if to her friends in New Jersey.

9. Sally encounters segregation on the train to Miami. How does her mother explain it to her? Identify other times in the novel when Sally is aware of segregation. Explain what Dr. Freedman means when he tells Sally that the north isn’t much better.

10. What is Sally’s first impression of her school in Miami? How does she feel out of place? Sally relates all the bad things about her first day to her grandmother. How does Ma Fanny respond to Sally’s first-day experiences? At what point does Sally begin to feel that she belongs?

11. Describe the friends that Sally makes in Miami. Sally and her friends are in the fifth grade. They aren’t really adolescents, but they have adolescent concerns. Identify typical adolescent behaviors among Sally and her friends. Andrea is a year older than Sally. How does Andrea contrast fifth and sixth grade? Discuss the way the boys interact with the girls. Debate whether the boys are immature when they call breasts “tiddly winks.”

12. Sally learns that Aunt Bette is expecting. How is she naïve about what this means? Sally asks her mom how a woman gets pregnant. Explain why her mother doesn’t give an explanation, but buys her a book instead. Why doesn’t her mother want her to show the book to Douglas? Sally learns that Bubbles Daniels, a teenage neighbor, is pregnant. How does Ma Fanny react when she hears that Mr. and Mrs. Daniels are sitting shivah because of Bubbles’s condition?

13. Judy Blume says that this is her most autobiographical novel. Define autobiography. Discuss what Blume might have been like as a child after reading Sally’s story.

Guide written by Pat Scales, a retired middle and high school librarian who is currently a children’s and young adult literature consultant and specializes in curriculum and free speech issues.

This guide has been provided by Simon & Schuster for classroom, library, and reading group use. It may be reproduced in its entirety or excerpted for these purposes.