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A review of How To Eat Fried Worms

by Thomas Rockwell

A boy is challenged to eat worms by a friend, and he takes up the challenge

Reviewed by: Paul A. Paterson
About Paul A. Paterson

How To Eat Fried Worms Tom, Billy, Allen and Joe are best friends, but that friendship is put to the test when Alan challenges Billy to eat 15 worms in 15 days. If he does it, Allen will give Billy $50. If he doesn't, well, Allen gets to call Billy a chicken for the rest of his life.

The rules are simple: Billy can prepare the worm any way he wants, and he can glop as much ketchup and mustard on the worm as he likes, but if he misses a day, he loses the bet.

How To Eat Fried Worms is a wriggly little work of youth fiction full of lively characters, hilarious situations and punchy, quirky dialogue. The main characters are colorful and, above all, very believable. These boys went to your school, live on your street and play baseball with your kids.

As the story proceeds, the bet strains the boys' friendship, resulting in arguments, fights and general skullduggery. Throughout it all, Rockwell describes the eating of each worm in delicious detail, punctuating each glob of ketchup, mustard and horseradish sauce with glorious description and clever dialogue.

In one sequence, Allen and Joe take Billy to a ball game in an attempt to distract him from the bet. Billy arrives home late and sleepy, but realizes the double cross in the nick of time. The results are hilarious, and more than a little gruesome.

But at its core, the book is all about friendship, loyalty and the innocence of youth.

How To Eat Fried Worms is a terrific read for young and old, and, like a big nightcrawler, is best when it's shared. The writing lends itself to being read aloud and the subject matter is icky enough the engage even the most jaded 10-year-old.

Click here to buy this book, or read more about it at Amazon.com: How To Eat Fried Worms

Copyright © by Paul A. Paterson, 2002

Reviewed by Paul A. Paterson:
-- How To Eat Fried Worms - by Thomas Rockwell
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-- The Contender - by Robert Lipsyte
-- The Outsiders - by S. E. Hinton
-- That Was Then, This Is Now - by S. E. Hinton
-- Rumble Fish - by S. E. Hinton
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-- The Adventures of Pinocchio: The Story of A Puppet - by Carlo Collodi
-- The Winner Within: A Life Plan for Team Players - by Pat Riley
-- A Shadow Like A Leopard - by Myron Levoy
-- The Happy Prince & Other Stories - by Oscar Wilde
-- Captains Courageous - by Rudyard Kipling
-- Kidnapped - by Robert Louis Stevenson
-- Treasure Island - by Robert Louis Stevenson
-- Lost In The Barrens - by Farley Mowat
-- Animal Farm - by George Orwell
-- The Red Balloon - by Albert Lamorisse
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