Judy Moody Gets Famous!

“There had to be lots of ways people got famous besides spelling.”

Judy’s goal of becoming famous is what motivates her throughout the story. Her creativity and ingenuity are part of her persistence and willingness to keep trying even when things are going wrong. Through this journey, Judy discovers that she has her own strengths and unique traits and doesn’t need to follow someone else’s path. This line signals the beginning of Judy’s journey away from envy and imitation toward originality and self-discovery.

“Judy came across a macaroni picture of herself in kindergarten, with a screaming O for a mouth. She put it back. Stink would just love the chance to call her a noodle head. And remind her that she had a big mouth.”

Megan McDonald creates familiar images from childhood to make Judy’s experiences reflective of a typical childhood experience. Judy is only in third grade, but already looks back at her past self as being somewhat embarrassing and unevolved. A play on words is also used here to describe Judy’s “big mouth” both in reference to her art and to her tendency to talk out of turn.

“Judy did not think anybody would take her picture just for being happy. Or for singing songs about it.”

Judy tends to take things literally, as do most children her age. This becomes a source of humor and irony throughout the story. In this instance, Judy assumes that a “Glee Club” is just a group of people being happy together. She also knows that because of her “moodiness” she is unlikely to ever be in the news for expressing pure joy. The line captures Judy’s early belief that fame must be tied to spectacle or uniqueness rather than simple happiness or community, a belief she will eventually outgrow.

“Spelling, spelling, spelling. The whole wide world was hung up on spelling.”

Spelling is used as a motif throughout the story to emphasize Envy As Both a Flaw and a Motivator. Judy feels envious of Jessica for winning the spelling bee and having an appearance in the newspaper, and she becomes frustrated by the fact that spelling is not her strongest skill. In English class, Judy often becomes distracted for this reason, and much prefers her science class. The repetition here mirrors Judy’s spiraling frustration and sense of exclusion, emphasizing how envy can distort one's perspective.

“She hadn’t been paying attention. She, Judy Moody, was in a pickle. Pickle? Was that the word?”

Judy sometimes fails to pay attention in classes she doesn’t excel in, which often leads to trouble. Many of Judy’s “moods” are the result of this frustrating experience. An idiom is used both as a play on the situation (Judy being asked to spell a food word) and the fact that Judy’s distractedness has once again put her in a difficult situation. The confusion reflects Judy’s internal conflict—wanting to succeed but being trapped in environments where her strengths aren’t recognized.

“It was almost time for Science, her best subject, so it would be easy for Judy to pay attention. She’d sit up straight and raise her hand a bunch, like Jessica Finch.”

One of Judy’s greatest strengths is her love of science and medicine. Judy finds biology in particular very fascinating. Her love of the subject foreshadows her later decision to fix the dolls from the hospital and become her own version of a doctor. The reference to Jessica here also shows that Judy’s competitiveness can coexist with admiration, suggesting the early seeds of growth and maturity.

“Do you think not telling the truth can make a person itch?”

Judy allows her classmate Jessica to be blamed for the mealworm incident because she is worried about the consequences of being in trouble for the third time in a week. Fortunately, Judy demonstrates maturity and a strong sense of morality when she confesses the truth to her teacher after feeling guilty about it all day. She describes a physical “itch” which refers to a common metaphor relating a persistent itch to the feeling of needing to confess to a wrongdoing.

“She could hardly sit still. She wondered how long it would take the newspaper people to come take her picture with the two-hundred-fifty-year-old cherry pit.”

Judy’s attempts to become famous fail at first because rather than relying on her own strengths and talents, Judy tries to either copy others or trick people. This scene showcases Judy’s naivety and her childlike sense of wonder and importance toward the world. It also reflects how children often mimic the adult world's obsession with fame, even when they don't fully grasp its implications.

“In one gulp, Ricky the neighborhood kid had swallowed Judy Moody’s ticket to fame.”

In this ironic moment, Judy’s precious cherry pit is swallowed by the first boy who comes to look at it. It proves a powerful lesson in trying to earn fame through dishonest means, as Judy’s attempt to trick people fails almost instantly. The absurdity of the situation humorously punctures Judy’s inflated sense of her scheme’s importance, signaling a shift from illusion to insight.

“Stink counted his garage sale money at the kitchen table. Clink. Clink. CLINK.”

Both rhyme and onomatopoeia are used here to create both poetry and rhythm within the narrative’s prose. The sound of Stink counting his money is mentioned specifically because it emphasizes Judy’s frustration and envy, as well as her own failure to earn any money or fame at the garage sale herself.

“Judy felt a familiar twinge, the tug of a bad mood. She, Judy Moody, would never be as famous as a piano-playing chicken.”

Judy struggles with feelings of envy throughout the story, which create negative feelings within her but also motivate her to do better and try new things. Judy even finds herself feeling envious of a chicken who appears to be able to play the piano, and the absurdity of this demonstrates just how much Judy wants to be famous.

“‘I’m not famous!’ Judy wailed. ‘I’m an elbow!’”

Humor and irony go hand in hand throughout the story, particularly when Judy manages to win second place in the pet contest and still doesn’t get her face in the paper. Instead, all she gets is an elbow, which becomes a running joke as the story goes on. To add further irony, Jessica recognizes Judy’s elbow in the paper, and it leads to her wanting to spend more time with Judy.

“I want to be famous, not a giraffe.”

One of Judy’s ideas for becoming famous is to try and break a world record, but the suggestions that her friends and brother have are anything but practical. Judy imagines herself with the longest neck in the world, and the illustration shows Judy’s head sitting atop a giraffe’s body. The moment creates humor while also pointing out that becoming famous isn’t always as easy or simple as it seems.

“When they were finally standing, without anybody falling or snorting or hiccupping, they each tried to take a step. One…two…three.”

Judy and her friends attempt to create a human centipede, and nothing goes as planned. From the beginning, it’s much more difficult than it seems, and, in the end, the results are more disastrous than Judy or anyone else could have predicted. The buildup and countdown parody the tone of momentous achievement, undercut by the inevitable collapse, reinforcing the story’s motif of humorous trial and error.

“Three steps, and they had crumbled into a human pretzel.”

This metaphorical and hyperbolic statement reflects the lighthearted and exaggerated style of the novel. It showcases the motif of trial and error, as Judy often both literally and figuratively “stumbles” through her attempts to become famous before finally landing on something that works for her. There is also strong imagery here of the children tangled and piled on top of one another.

“Judy sent Stink her best troll-eyes stare, complete with stinging-caterpillar eyebrows.”

Judy’s menacing glare is humorously compared to a furry caterpillar, creating an exaggeration that is well fitted to Judy’s often exaggerated moods and expressions. The use of “troll eyes” creates strong imagery while also hinting at Judy’s own less-than-perfect nature.

“They all have broken arms and legs, or no heads. And some of them have cancer.”

Laura sees the doll with no hair and associates it with the girl she knows who has cancer. While the doll likely just lost its hair due to being played with for too long, Laura’s statement speaks to her own personal experience of having to stay in a hospital and to the importance of having dolls that represent optimism and strength. The line marks a tonal shift in the story, grounding Judy’s mission in something real and emotionally resonant.

“Rare! A real splint!”

Judy’s token expression is “Rare!,” which she uses to describe anything she finds delightful, amazing, or precious. When Frank gets a splint for his broken finger, Judy considers it exciting and intriguing because of her own love for biology, medicine, and helping others feel better, highlighting the theme of Success through Kindness.

“She dug out her collection: long arms, skinny arms, brown legs, pink legs, middles with bellybuttons, one bare foot, a thing that looked like a neck, and all sorts of heads—small heads, fat heads, Barbie heads, bald heads! Judy emptied a whole bag of body parts onto her bed. ‘Rare!’”

Judy is famous for having strange collections, including old pizza plates, lost teeth, and in this case, doll parts. Judy’s collection of doll parts stems from her fascination with biology and medicine and from her inner creativity. Judy sees potential where others do not, and this is one of her greatest strengths. The “bag of body parts” makes the scene sound macabre, but in truth it is an innocent and ingenious display of Kindness. The repeated structure of listing different body parts and heads emphasizes the variety in Judy’s collection.

“On a different doll Doctor Judy put tattoo Band-Aids from her Band-Aid collection all over its legs, arms, and stomach.”

Judy’s hero is Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman doctor in the United States. Like Elizabeth, Judy wants to be a pioneer and become known for making the world a better place. This is what motivates her to fix the dolls and create her own Success through Kindness. The Band-Aids symbolize healing and Judy’s genuine concern for others, which demonstrates Judy’s shift from wanting fame for the sake of recognition to finding meaning in helping others.

“She, Judy Moody was on her way to being just like First Woman Doctor, Elizabeth Blackwell.”

This allusion to the first female doctor in the US emphasizes Judy’s own sense of importance and potential. She knows that she can be something great if she just maintains her persistence and her care for others. Judy’s character has undergone a transformation throughout the story, as she goes from wanting fame for its own sake to seeing meaning in putting others first.

“Without Frank, she spelled barnacle with an i.”

Judy is still frustrated with her struggles in spelling, particularly now that her friend Frank isn’t around to help her. Although Judy has many strengths, she also has flaws and weaknesses, and part of her journey through childhood is about accepting these parts of herself.

“Too bad she had finished operating on all the hospital dolls so quickly. Making a cast was the best!”

Judy goes from wanting fame for its own sake and focusing on the end result as the reward to finding meaning and reward in the process of discovery and implementation. Judy no longer focuses on the end goal, but instead regrets having finished so soon and wishes she had more people to help. This line reveals Judy’s shift from performance to purpose—she now enjoys the doing, not just the outcome.