43 pages 1 hour read

Jerry Spinelli

Fourth Grade Rats

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1992

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Chapters 13-14Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 13 Summary: “Confession”

Suds confesses his wrongdoings to Mom. He feels guilty about how poorly he has treated others, and he realizes that being a rat made him miserable. No matter how much attention and admiration he received from other kids because of his behavior, Suds didn’t like the person he was when he was a rat. Mom explains that although Suds thought that becoming a rat was the first step to becoming a man, it was only when he stopped being a rat that he became a man. The act of taking accountability for his actions is proof of his maturity. Suds decides that from now on he’ll just be a kid, and he is relieved to discover that Mom has rescued Winky from the backyard. Winky is there on Suds’s bed, waiting for him like always.

Chapter 14 Summary: “Me and Dad”

Suds walks in on his father watching E.T. When E.T. dies, Dad tears up and confesses that he always cries at that part of the movie. Suds snuggles into his dad’s lap and assures him that he does, too.

Chapters 13-14 Analysis

As the action of the novel winds down into the denouement, the final stages of the coming-of-age journey are fulfilled when Suds comes to embrace a new level of maturity.

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