How to Eat Fried Worms

infobox Book |
name = How to Eat Fried Worms


image_caption = The cover of How to Eat Fried Worms
author = Thomas Rockwell
illustrator =
cover_artist =
language = English
series = Children's Novel
genre =
publisher = Yearling
release_date = 1973
english_release_date =
media_type = Print ()
pages =
isbn = ISBN
preceded_by =
followed_by = How to Fight a Girl

"How to Eat Fried Worms" is the title of a children's book written by Thomas Rockwell, first published in 1973. It was later turned into a "CBS Storybreak" episode in the mid-1980s, and a movie of the same name in 2006. Because the novel's content--the idea of eating worms as part of a bet--is thought to be disgusting by some, it has been the frequent target of censors and appears on the American Library Association's List of most commonly challenged books in the U.S. of 1990-2000 at number ninety six. [http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.htm]

Particular content in the book has been censored among various editions as well; Seventies editions of the book included a single use of the phrase "you're a bastard," which was replaced with "you're a fink" in later editions.

Plot Summary

Billy, Alan, and Joe go over to Tom’s house. They ask Tom why he wasn’t at the thing last night. He says it was because his parents kept him in. They asked why his parents kept him in. He said it was because he wouldn’t eat his dinner. They ask Tom why he didn’t eat his dinner. He said it was because it was salmon casserole. Billy said he would eat anything before being sent upstairs without dinner. Somebody asked if he’d eat mud. Billy said, “Yeah, all mud is dirt and water and my Dad says that everybody eats a pound of dirt a year!” “How about poison,” somebody asked. Billy said that poison is a different story. “How about worms,” someone else asked. Billy said that he would eat worms because all they are is dirt. “But they bleed!” “So what, Cows bleed,” said Billy. And that’s how the dare of eating worms started.

Billy is dared to eat 15 fried worms in 15 days. Billy eats a few worms covered in ketchup and mustard. If he eats the 15 worms in 15 days then Alan and Joe have to give Billy $50 to buy a mini bike. If he can’t do it, then Billy has to give Allan and Joe $50 to both of them.

Alan and Joe try to do everything to try to stop Billy from eating those 15 worms in 15 days. They even sent a note and pretended it was from his doctor and it said that the worms were poisonous. Alan and Joe glued two worms together so he would have to eat 16 instead of 15, so it would be a lot harder and he wouldn’t be able to eat the worm for that day. He is about to eat the 15th worm and Alan runs over and locks him up in the closet and the 15th day is almost over. Billy screams for somebody to let him out. Somebody lets Billy out. Alan and Joe kept trying to cheat Billy, but Billy discovered them every time. Billy eats the 15th worm and he gets the mini bike.

The story continues in its sequel, How to Fight a Girl.