How To Eat Fried Worms

In the novel How to Eat Fried Worms, a boy accepts a $50 bet from a friend to eat 15 worms in 15 days, but as he nears victory, he faces a flurry of nasty tricks and traps that go wildly out of control. Written by Thomas Rockwell, son of the famous American illustrator Norman Rockwell, and published in 1973, the book sold over three million copies, won several awards, was a target of censors, and was made into an animated short film for TV. The 2016 reissue by Scholastic Inc. forms the basis for this study guide.

Plot Summary

Alan bets his friend Billy that he can’t eat 15 worms in 15 days. Billy, who needs money to buy a minibike, agrees to the bet only if Alan will pay him $50 for the win. Their friend Tom says he’ll assist Billy, while another friend, Joe, sides with Alan. They search for worms near Billy’s family farm and come up with a handful of night crawler earthworms the size of large pencils.

Billy prepares by gathering all the toppings he can find to hide the slimy taste of worms, which he brings to the old horse barn. Tom boils the first night crawler and brings it out to Billy, who slathers it in ketchup and other condiments. Tom slices it up, and Billy eats every bite. Ecstatic, Billy dances crazily around the barn, scaring Joe and Alan. Billy chases them out of the barn and taunts them for being afraid.

If Alan loses the bet, he’ll be in trouble with his dad over the $50, so he and Joe think up ways to stop Billy from winning. Billy eats the second worm and falls over backward as if poisoned; the boys rush over, but Billy taunts them again.

Billy tells Tom what grosses him out isn’t the worm but the idea of eating it. Tom tells Billy to think of fish when he eats the worms and reminds Billy of all the fun things they’ll do with the minibike when Billy has won the bet. The third worm is fried, and Billy finishes it as Tom whispers “fish, fish” in his ear.

Joe and Alan try to scare Billy with a story about the dangers of worm-eating. Billy, suspicious, almost falls for it but manages to gulp down the fourth worm. Tired of Tom lecturing him about bravery, Billy insists that Tom eat a worm too, but Tom runs away. Billy eats the fifth worm without Tom’s help.

One night, Billy dreams he’s ordered worms at a crowded butcher shop, but they give him worms the size of snakes. Then he’s at a fancy restaurant munching away at a huge worm on a plate, but the worm stays the same size while giant worms wind around his arms and legs. He wakens to a growling, painful stomach and alerts his parents, who call Poison Control and learn that worms are harmless to eat.

Reassured, Billy now consumes each day’s worm with gusto. Alan and Joe realize Billy is no longer afraid to eat worms. Knowing that moms can be squeamish, they bring worms to Billy’s mother and ask her to oversee his worm-eating while the two boys are away fishing. This ploy backfires when she finds a French recipe for worms and then invents a delicious dessert that contains a worm.

Alan and Joe’s next scheme is to feign defeat and invite Billy to a ball game, where they ply him with junk food until he’s too stuffed to stay awake on the ride home. They hope he’ll sleep past the deadline for eating the next worm and default on the bet, but Billy wakes at the last minute and rushes to Tom’s house, where they find a worm. They run to Alan’s house, blast it with a siren, and force the entire neighborhood to watch as Billy eats the worm just before time runs out.

Alan’s father forces Alan and Joe to go door to door and apologize for the disturbance. Angry, they confront Billy and Tom and get into a fistfight; Alan and Billy are injured but not seriously.

Alan and Joe’s fathers sit the boys down and ask them to shake hands and resume their friendship. The boys manage to negotiate a truce, but the war isn’t over. Billy gets a letter from the family doctor that warns him against eating any more worms because of reports of paralysis and death among those who do. Billy’s dad reads the letter, notes the many typos and misspellings, and shows his son that the note is a forgery.

Down but not out, Joe and Alan present Billy with the final worm, but Billy realizes it’s a fake made of beans. He grabs another worm, preparing to eat it. Alan, frantic, knocks Billy down and locks him in the horse barn toolshed. Alan then tries to open the cistern, or well, so he can drop Billy into it. Billy’s father intervenes, banishes Alan and Joe, and sends Billy to his room.

Billy fears that, thus grounded, he will be unable to finish the final worm and lose the bet. Tom and his brother distract Billy’s mom and smuggle a worm to Billy, who eats it at his window in front of Joe and Alan. Billy wins the bet after all.

Months later, Billy parks his minibike and joins Tom and Joe at the river for a picnic. Alan misses the get-together because he’s still at work, paying off his debt. For lunch, Billy has brought his usual meal, a worm sandwich—he can’t stop eating them.