Fern with Lettuce on her Tooth

May 17, 2012 8:17 AM

Name This Book: A children's chapter book (think Judy Blume) in which a nerdy girl named Fern gets lettuce stuck to her front tooth.

The main character was the typical protagonist of that genre - an insecure girl trying to be popular, and she was mean to Fern in an effort to impress the in-crowd (I think) but secretly felt bad about it. And that's all I remember.

I felt certain it was Judy Blume but I spent some time on wikipedia this morning and couldn't find it. It's something I read more than once when I was a kid in the 1980's.

posted by something something to Writing & Language (11 answers total)

Sounds really familiar! It wasn't a scene from Charlotte's Web was it?
posted by jwhite1979 at 8:34 AM on May 17, 2012

This might have been the Stacy and Friends/Little Sister series by Allan Frewin Jones. The main character was a girl called Stacy who had a friend named Fern.
posted by 35minutes at 8:35 AM on May 17, 2012

I read that book as well! They were at summer camp. I don't think Blume was the author.
posted by vortex genie 2 at 11:05 AM on May 17, 2012

That sounds familiar! I googled Fern and Summer camp and got One Crazy Summer. I don't think that seems very Judy Blume-ish, as the summer camp in the book is run by the Black Panthers.
posted by artychoke at 11:58 AM on May 17, 2012

Response by poster: Yeah, I don't think it's anything mentioned so far. I found a vague reference on a teaching website that leads me to believe it might be Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume, although that's told from a boy's point of view. I've requested it from the library to see if that's it!
posted by something something at 12:11 PM on May 17, 2012

I remember this book, but I can't remember the title or author! It took place at a summer camp, like vortex genie mentioned. There were 2 cool girls which the main character joined up with, and Fern was a neighbour who also attended the camp. The protagonist spent the summer avoiding her but feeling bad about it. Was it called "Popular Girls" or something like that?
posted by yawper at 12:16 PM on May 17, 2012

Response by poster: OK, I'm almost sure it's Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great. It's in the same series as Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing but is told from Sheila's point of view and she does go to day camp. Now I've requested that one from the library as well. I have spent an inordinate amount of time on this today.
posted by something something at 12:27 PM on May 17, 2012

Tiger Eyes? In this scene someone gets lettuce in their teeth - but it was a guy named Ned, who the protagonist dubs "The Nerd."
posted by Addlepated at 2:53 PM on May 17, 2012

BTW, "lettuce" doesn't show up in a Google Books search of Sheila the Great (and I also just scanned the book book for that scene), and "teeth" is only mentioned in terms of brushing them. Here.
posted by Addlepated at 2:56 PM on May 17, 2012

Best answer: I am almost positive you're talking about the book "Buddies" by Barbara Park.
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 4:10 PM on May 17, 2012

Response by poster: Oh my god, you're a genius. As soon as I read "Dinah Feeney" I knew it was the one. Thank you! I have no recollection of that title or author but that has to be it.
posted by something something at 4:12 PM on May 17, 2012