How to Eat Fried Worms
 Cover | |
| Author | Thomas Rockwell |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | Children's novel |
| Publisher | Franklin Watts |
Publication date | 1973 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 115 |
| Followed by | How to Fight a Girl |
How to Eat Fried Worms is a children's book written by Thomas Rockwell, first published in 1973. The novel's plot involves a couple of students eating worms as part of a bet. As this idea 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 United States of 1990-2000 at number 96.[1] It was later turned into a CBS Storybreak episode in the mid-1980s, and a movie of the same name in 2006.
The story continues in two sequels: How to Fight a Girl and How to Get Fabulously Rich.
Plot summary
Alan challenges Billy to eat a worm a day for 15 days. The winner gets $50. Tom prepares the worms in a variety of ways to make them more appetizing, using condiments such as ketchup, mustard, horseradish, and maple syrup. His parents eventually find out about the bet, but he is allowed to finish. All the worms he eats in the book are nightcrawlers. At one point, Tom tries to get Billy to give him pudding he isn't supposed to have.
References
- ↑ "100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000". ALA. Retrieved 2011-02-15.