68 pages • 2 hours read
John David AndersonPosted
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2018A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 17-18Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 17 Summary: “The Message”
Eric, Deedee, and Wolf hurry to the bottom of the hill, where a crowd of children hovers around Rose. The boys congratulate her and then head back to Eric’s house, all feeling like her victory was a big moment. On the way back, Eric sees Bench at the top of the hill. He waves, and Bench waves back. Eric’s mother offers to drive everyone home. She asks about the sticky note ban, saying she got a message from the principal. The group assures her they aren’t involved with the sticky notes, and she drops the subject.
After Deedee and Wolf are dropped off, Rose directs Eric’s mother to a neighborhood with big, expensive-looking houses. As Eric watches Rose walk up her driveway, he realizes everything he thought about her and her worn clothes isn’t true. Rose lives in the kind of house that signifies her family has money; she could be popular, but instead “spent last Saturday saving us from a horde of zombies” (306). At home, Eric goes to bed, certain things will be different at school the next day.
Rose’s message of choice for the bully’s sticky note is “I’m sorry.” None of the teachers say anything about it despite the ban, and the bully keeps quiet. At the end of the day, he sticks the note to Deedee’s locker before leaving. Deedee and Eric are certain this is the end of their troubles, but the next day, things get worse.
Chapter 18 Summary: “The Confession”
The next day, Eric sees a message on Wolf’s locker written in permanent marker. It reads “TOTAL ROMAN.” Eric explains the significance of the words: In seventh-grade gym class, Eric and Wolf were changing in a locker room. They looked at a couple of shirtless boys, and one of them lashed out at Wolf by saying “What’re you lookin’ at, homo?” (315). The boys started to call Wolf “Roman,” a stand-in for “gay”; the meaning of “Roman” spreads until everyone knows what it means.
Wolf doesn’t show up for English, and Eric tells Deedee and Rose what happened. Rose investigates, and right before lunch, the three leave school to look for Wolf. They find him at his house, smashing the model cars and planes he made over the years. They try to talk him down, but he refuses to listen and keeps smashing his stuff. Eric realizes the only thing that’ll help is learning who wrote the message; he goes to find out, leaving Deedee and Rose with Wolf.
Eric goes to Bench’s house, where he confronts him about what happened to Wolf. The boys argue about how things changed between them until Bench finally confesses that he doesn’t even like D&D and that he “only played because [he] wanted to hang out with you guys” (332). Eric notices the past tense of “wanted,” realizing Bench has permanently pulled away from the group. Bench tells Eric who wrote the message on Wolf’s locker: It’s one of the bullies from English.
Chapters 17-18 Analysis
Rose conquering the Gauntlet solidifies her place in Eric’s group. Like Bench used to, Rose prevents Eric and Deedee from being hurt in the bathroom. In doing so, she becomes their new protector. This and Bench’s presence at the Gauntlet serves as a passing of the proverbial torch. This is the moment Bench releases the group into Rose’s care and relinquishes his role as protector. Rose also finds her place at BMS by completing the Gauntlet. She’s still the “new kid” and not “popular,” but she isn’t an outsider anymore.
The juxtaposition of Rose’s clothing and her expensive house shows how appearances can be deceiving, reinforcing the idea that Similarities and Differences Are Illusions. Judging from her clothes, Eric assumed Rose’s family was poor. Rose and her family are revealed to have money, and the girl’s ratty sweatshirt and scuffed combat boots are a fashion choice. From her very first appearance, Rose strikes Eric as different, and in Chapter 17, he understands that being different isn’t always a bad thing. Rose has the resources to buy the status signifiers that will make her fit in with the popular kids, but she chooses to pursue her interests instead. As with D&D, she changes the rules of the game, inspiring her friends to do so as well.
Discovering the “TOTAL ROMAN” message is the book’s climax and reinforces all of the book’s messages about the power of words. The aftermath of the incident brings resolution for Eric’s group. Eric knew for a while that Bench was pulling away, but the defacing of Wolf’s locker forces a confrontation between the two friends. Their conversation and Eric’s lack of surprise about Bench withdrawing speak to the lies people tell themselves. Though Eric knew things were changing and even admitted so to Rose, a part of him wanted to believe the group could survive intact. Bench moving on is an example of how friends grow apart, a natural process, though he has fallen in with his former friends’ bullies. The book’s conclusion shows that Words Can’t Be Taken Back, as Wolf decides to withdraw from BMS. Additionally, while the action shows that Anonymity Gives People Power, the plot’s resolution shows that justice can be achieved when bullies aren’t protected.
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By John David Anderson
