The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo

The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo is a children's book published in 1969, written by Judy Blume and featuring different illustrations over multiple editions. It was Blume's first published work.

Plot
The story follows second-grader Freddy Dissel (about 8 years old). He is a middle child and feels emotionally squashed between his older brother Mike and his younger sister Ellen. Mike (who was 9 years old) received new clothes and Freddy is forced to wear Mike's old clothes. Freddy was forced to share a room with Mike because Ellen (the youngest --about 7 years old) moved into Freddy's old bedroom. Freddy tried to join Mike and his friends but Mike said that he (Freddy) was getting in his way. Freddy tried to play with Ellen. But she did not know how to play Freddy's way. And she messed up (and knocked down) Freddy's blocks. When Freddy got mad (because Ellen messed up --and knocked over-- his blocks) and pinched Ellen, she cried. Then Ellen cried and told Mrs. Dissel that Freddy pinched her when she messed up, wrecked, and knocked down his blocks. So Mrs. Dissel confronted Freddy for pinching his little sister. He does not seem to get much attention, until he lands a role in a school play as a green kangaroo.

Publication history
The book was originally published in 1969 by the Reilly & Lee imprint of the Henry Regnery Company with illustrations by Lois Axeman. It has been reissued multiple times, first in 1981 with revised text and new illustrations by Amy Aitken published by the Bradbury Press and the Yearling imprint of Dell Publishing. It was again reissued by Dell in 1991 with new illustrations by Irene Trivas, and finally in 2014 by Simon & Schuster with illustrations by Debbie Ridpath Ohi.