Name: Mr.

Carrano Date: 10/1/14

Monthly Book Report

Title: Judy Moody Declares Independence

Author: Megan McDonald

Protagonist
Judy Moody is the protagonist of this novel. She is a girl who lives with her mom, dad, and brother named
Stink. Judy desperately wants independence from being treated like a little kid and begs her parents for more
allowance. She has to prove that she is responsible enough to earn her independence.

Antagonist
Judy’s parents are the antagonists of this novel. They will not give her the freedom she wants and will not
raise her allowance until she proves she is responsible enough. Judy’s parents make her earn their respect
and independence.

Setting
Judy Moody Declares Independence takes place in a couple different locations. At the beginning of the novel,
Judy and her family are in Boston, Massachusetts. They end up traveling back home to Virginia.

Conflict
In the realistic fiction novel Judy Mood Declares Independence there is a person vs. person conflict. Judy
wants independence from her parents and would like them to raise her allowance. She feels like they treat her
like a little child and she deserves to be taken more seriously. Throughout the story Judy tries to prove to her
mom and dad that she has earned her freedom but they do not seem to believe her.

Climax
The climax happens when Judy gets home from school one day to find that her mom has left her a scavenger
hunt to follow in search of her missing scrapbook. Judy and Stink searched and found footprints that lead to
their mother’s computer. That clue led them next to the sock drawer where they found her scrapbook. Inside
she found a piece of parchment explaining all her good deeds and a twenty-five cent raise on her allowance.

Resolution
The resolution of the novel is when Judy is celebrating her raise in allowance, her mother tells her that she has
to continue to be responsible and do her chores even though she got a raise. Judy’s parents let her stay up
fifteen minutes later for one night. Judy went to bed that night happy and finally feeling independent.

Theme
The main theme of Judy Moody Declares Independence is freedom and independence has to be earned not
given. It took Judy the whole story in order to earn her parents trust and respect in order to receive her
independence and raise in allowance.
Plot summary
Judy Moody is a girl who is desperate for her freedom from being treated like a little child. She takes a trip to
Boston, Massachusetts with her mom, dad, and her brother Stink. When they are there they see a lot of the
tourist sites such as the freedom trail, state house and Paul Revere’s house. While in Boston, Judy meets a
nice English girl named Tori and becomes friends with her. Tori has all of the freedom that Judy wishes she
could have and Judy becomes very jealous. After seeing all that Tori has, Judy complains to her parents that
she should earn more of an allowance and her mom doesn’t listen to her. Judy and Tori spend more time
together sharing hobbies they have and decide to become pen pals.

When Judy’s family arrives back in Virginia, she writes her own Declaration of Independence. Judy declares
independence from all of the things she doesn’t want to do. Her parents explain to Judy that if she wants more
freedom, she has to earn it by being more responsible and mature. After her mother tells her that, Judy
decides to become more independent by waking up without an alarm clock, brushing her teeth without
complaining, brushing her hair, and making her bed without being told by her parents. At school Judy learns
about Sybil Ludington, the girl Paul Revere and decides to make some household chores without being asked.
When her parents got home Judy showed off all the work she had done around the house but her parents still
wouldn’t raise her allowance. In protest, Judy, Stink, Frank, and Rocky decide to have a Boston Tub Party in
their bathroom. They pour tea in the tub and make a mess of the bathroom. When their dad found out he told
Judy that her actions were not going to help her gain independence and said she could not have friends over
for a week.

One day after school as Judy was getting off of the bus she realizes that Stink has not gotten off yet. She
chased the bus all over on her bike. When she finally caught up to the bus, Stink said that he had fallen
asleep. When the two of them got home their mother was livid at Judy and would not even let her explain.
When her parents calmed down later that night, they told Judy that what she did for Stink was very brave and
that she might be ready for more freedom. The next day Judy felt like she was famous at school because
everyone was talking about what happened on the bus the day before. When Judy and Stink get home from
school and find Judy’s scrapbook missing they go on a search for it and find that their mom left them a
scavenger hunt. They followed the footprints to their mom’s computer screen and cracked the code written on
it. Next, they went to the sock drawer and found the missing scrapbook. Inside was a piece of parchment that
listed everything Judy had done and a twenty-five cent raise in allowance. Judy’s parents told her that if she
wanted to keep her freedom, she would need to keep up what she is doing. Judy finally got the independence
she was waiting for and went to bed fifteen minutes later than usual that night.