"I'm Not a Little Kid Anymore:" What Does it Mean to be Grown Up?

Fourth Grade Rats
Jerry Spinelli
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books, Reprint Edition, 2012
Format: Novel, Paperback, 160 Pages
Interest Level: Grade 3 to Grade 5

Review by Terry Northcutt, Ph.D. 
 
At the beginning of the school year, Suds Morton discovered what it meant to be a fourth-grade rat. When children in the lower grades saw a fourth grader, they screamed, “RAT.”  Fourth graders responded by baring their front teeth and snarling causing the younger children to scream and run away—usually laughing.  It was just a game. One everyone soon tired of and forgot about within two weeks except Joey Peterson, Suds Morton’s best friend.
 
Joey was thrilled with being a Fourth-Grade Rat. For him it was a step toward growing up and becoming a man. He was an expert on what it meant to be a Rat, a grown up, a man. Suds was the daily recipient of Joey’s wisdom:

Rats don’t cry when they fall off the monkey bars and their thumb bends backwards
Rats aren’t scared of spiders.
 
Flying elephants on a lunch box are little kid stuff—paper bags are for rats.
Rats eat meat not peanut butter and jelly.
 
If you want to grow up you have to eat stuff you don’t like. “The worse it tastes the quicker you grow up.”
And growing up means you take care of Number One.
 
For Joey these words of wisdom translated into pushing little kids off swings and grabbing their twinkies. At home it meant trashing his room and saying “No” when his mother asked him to clean his trashed room.

As for Suds, he remains uncomfortable with ejecting little kids from  swings, taking their food, trashing his room, and telling his mother, “No”—that is until the school bully tips him out of his chair onto the floor causing everyone in the lunch room to laugh, including Judy  Billings, the girl he has adored since first grade. Humiliated and angry, he shoves the chocolate cake of a third grader into his face and mashes it around. The entire lunchroom howls with admiration and Judy Billings finally notices him.

Suds, at this point, goes on a rampage ejecting little kids from swings and all the other things Joey advocated. Unfortunately, Judy Billings turned out to be fickle and Joey, suddenly, starts eating peanut butter again. It seems his mother decided that Joey’s version of being grown up was not acceptable. She even accompanies him to Suds Morton’s house to apologize to Suds for pushing him into his shenanigans.

After Joey and his mother leave, Suds confesses to his mother. While initially Joey pressured him into doing things, later he did them on his own:

When I was being a rat, I thought I was having a great time. But I wasn’t. I was having a rotten time.” I thought of the faces of the little kids I had pushed around. “It was like other kids thought I was a big deal, or something. But I didn’t like myself…It’s no fun being a rat.”

With this confession, his mother lets him know that admitting he was wrong and taking the blame for his actions is more grown up and more like a man.  to work at it.

Discussion Questions

Do you believe growing up means you have to give things up whether you’re ready to or not? Why or Why Not?

Does growing up mean not being afraid and not crying even when you’ve been hurt?

Does growing up mean you don’t care about scoldings, groundings, detentions, or rules? Why or why not?

Why do you think Joey thinks that growing up means being tough—that is, not crying when hurt, not being afraid of bees or spiders, pushing little kids off swings, taking their Twinkies?

What do you think Suds Morton’s mother thinks about what it means to be a man?  

Why do you think Suds Morton’s mother said that confession is good for the soul?

Do you have other ideas about what it means to be grown up? 
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