Freckle Juice

At its heart, Freckle Juice is a lighthearted cautionary tale about what can happen if a person is unsatisfied with their appearance. Blume uses Andrew’s struggles to remind the reader that it is common to struggle to be comfortable in one’s own skin, but attempting to change how we look can lead to unexpected and sometimes painful consequences.

Andrew isn’t happy about his lack of freckles. This desire is his most defining trait in the story’s opening paragraph. The first sentence, “Andrew Marcus wanted freckles” (7), tells the reader that Andrew is completely fixated on looking different. He is so focused on changing the way he looks that he winds up losing five weeks’ worth of allowance and missing a day of school with a terrible stomach ache. If Andrew had appreciated his appearance instead of envying Nicky’s freckles, he wouldn’t have found himself in this predicament.

Andrew’s desire to have freckles is the main focus of the novel, but he also deals with insecurity in other areas of his life. Throughout the book, Blume shows that Andrew can be clumsy, absentminded, gullible, and a slow reader. Any one of these can cause intense embarrassment, especially in young children like Andrew. Andrew wishes he could be like other students who follow directions the first time, don’t get in trouble for falling out of their chairs, and aren’t late for school. Andrew has fixated on freckles not just because he thinks they look neat but also because they will solve all of his problems at school. Blume states that if Andrew looked different and had freckles of his own, “he’d hear Miss Kelly when she called reading groups” (7-8). Even his desire to not have to wash his neck and ears in the morning is motivated by a fear of embarrassment: he doesn’t want to be late for school. Andrew isn’t just self-conscious about his appearance. He believes that looking different will trigger change and cause other areas of his life and personality to be different as well.

Andrew is shocked to learn that Nicky hates his freckles. Blume uses this revelation at the end of the story to help Andrew finally learn his lesson. Everyone has something they are insecure about, and true happiness comes from being comfortable in your own skin. It isn’t until Andrew learns that Nicky doesn’t want his freckles that he starts to realize the error of his thinking. If someone like Nicky is unhappy with his appearance—glorious freckles and all—then perhaps Andrew isn’t alone, and everyone questions the beauty of their skin from time to time. Children might spend their entire lives struggling with self-image, and it is never too soon to start a dialogue about positive self-image.