Ralph S. Mouse

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1982

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapter 7-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Chapter 7-EpilogueChapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 7 Summary: “The Cucaracha Voice”

Ralph is relieved when all the students return Monday morning. He hides in the mitten while Ryan and his classmates file back into Room 5, tracking in melty snow from outside. Ralph hopes that Ryan repaired his motorcycle over the weekend. Several students bring copies of the Cucaracha Voice, which has published the story about their exhibit. Brad returns wearing a sling and the students wonder if his arm got hurt during his fight with Ryan. Ryan reminds Brad that he still owes him for breaking the motorcycle, but Brad thinks the idea of a mouse riding a motorcycle is ridiculous. Ralph spots the newspaper article and sees a photo of himself in the fishbowl. He thinks it’s a good photo and wonders if Matt has seen it yet.

When Miss K arrives, the students all begin to speak at once, anxious to hear their teacher’s thoughts on the article, which they feel portrays their class exhibit and their school in an unfair light. Miss K calms the class and asks Brad to share what happened to his arm. He explains that he injured himself at motocross practice. Ralph’s ears perk up; he thinks that maybe he and Brad could be friends since they both share a love of motorcycles. Brad wants Ralph to run the maze again since he broke the rules, but Ryan claims that Ralph ran away after the race, and he can’t find him. Gordon speaks up in Ralph’s defense, saying that he proved his intelligence by beating the maze. The class takes a vote, and the majority agrees with Gordon. Miss K reminds the students that fighting isn’t a healthy way to resolve disputes. Ryan and Brad begin arguing again over who’s at fault for the fight, but the rest of the class wants to discuss the article.

The article headlined “Class Nabs Sneed Invader” (114), claims that J. Sneed Elementary is infested with mice. The reporter states that several school employees have reported finding evidence of mice in the library and lunchroom, and the school board is planning to meet to discuss a method of extermination. The children see the article as false reporting and are angered that the reporter didn’t include their photograph. The reporter even got Miss K’s first name wrong, calling her Bambi instead of Heidi. Gordon regrets all the negative information in his report about mice and claims he just copied what he found in a book. The students want to write letters of complaint to the newspaper, and Miss K agrees, happy to make it part of a lesson. However, first she wants the students to investigate the evidence of mice in the school so they can be sure they are telling the truth when they say that there is only one mouse in the school. As Ralph listens, he worries about what extermination methods the school will use and begins plotting his escape.

Chapter 8 Summary: “Ralph Speaks”

Ralph crawls out of Melissa’s boot and hides in a bookshelf while he ponders the injustice of his situation and realizes that he can’t return home to the inn because his relatives will tease him for losing his motorcycle. He also knows he has little hope of running away safely without a means of transportation. Ralph listens as the children voice their concerns for him and throw out ideas for how to prove to the school board that there’s only one mouse. Melissa suggests stamping Ralph’s feet in ink so he will leave footprints wherever he goes. Miss K steps out of the classroom to meet with the principal and discuss the school board’s extermination plan. Ryan shows Brad the broken motorcycle, and even from a distance Ralph can see that it is beyond repair. Brad suggests that Ryan purchase a new one since he’s “a rich kid” (128). Ryan replies that he isn’t “a rich kid” and only lives at the inn because his mother works there. He explains, “I eat in the kitchen with the maid and waitresses” (128). Brad’s tone changes and he asks Ryan about his father, but Ryan doesn’t know where his father is and doesn’t like talking about him.

Miss K returns and shares the good news with the students. Due to budget cuts, the school can’t afford a large-scale extermination so the principal plans to put out only five mousetraps. Ralph sneers: he learned how to avoid mousetraps at an early age. After lunch, the students search for Ralph, but Ralph evades them. He decides to talk to Brad in hopes that he can help him escape. As Brad leaves class, Ralph scurries into his pant leg. Miss K stops Brad and asks if she can help, but he shrugs her off. Ralph climbs up Brad’s leg and shouts at him for fighting with Ryan and breaking his motorcycle. Brad can’t believe what he is seeing and hearing. Ralph explains that Brad can understand him because he is lonely and they have similar interests. Brad reveals that his parents are divorced, and he lives with his dad and dog. He misses his mother. Ralph tells Brad that he should be friends with Ryan because they have a lot in common. Brad asks Ralph to be his friend, but Ralph doesn’t trust him. Brad is amazed that Ralph can ride a motorcycle, but Ralph reminds him that he destroyed it. Ralph scurries away to find a place to rest, and Brad asks if he will speak to him again. Ralph doesn’t make any promises. Just as he climbs into Melissa’s boot, Ryan grabs him. The class is overjoyed to have Ralph back safe and sound. Much to Ralph’s dismay, they put him in the fishbowl for safekeeping. After placing the mitten, water, and part of a granola bar in the bowl, Ryan leaves Ralph for the night, promising that he will get him out of the school the following day.

Chapter 9 Summary: “The Surprise”

Miss K confirms with the principal that the traps caught no additional mice and allows the students to write complaint letters to the Cucaracha Voice. She turns the exercise into a lesson about composing business letters. Ralph hates being stuck inside the glass bowl and refuses to emerge from the mitten until Ryan pulls him out and tells him he’s taking him back to the inn. Ralph doesn’t want to return without his motorcycle, fearing his relatives will tease him, but Ryan insists that he can’t keep living at the school. Brad arrives at school still wearing an arm sling and gives Miss K a note that makes her smile. After school, Brad rides home with Ryan on the school bus while Ralph hides in Ryan’s pocket. Riding the bus is an adventure for Brad and he offers to let Ryan ride in his father’s tow truck one day. Brad is spending the afternoon with Ryan at the hotel and Ryan hopes his mother will let him stay for dinner. Even though the boys will have to eat in the kitchen, Brad is excited about dining at a hotel since most nights it’s just him and his father, eating simple meals.

When they arrive at the inn, Ralph is happy to see that everything is just as he remembered it, including the familiar ticking clock. He does notice that the inn is tidier, and that Matt has kept his job. Brad and Ryan place Ralph under the clock and present him with a tiny sports car, a “Laser XL7” that is just the right size for Ralph. Overcome by the sleek beauty of the car, Ralph can barely speak. He easily slides through the window and makes his signature “pb-pb-b-b” sound to start the car, but it doesn’t move. Brad reminds him that he must use a different sound from the motorcycle, so Ralph squeaks a “vroom-vroom,” and the car moves across the floor. To make the car move in reverse, Ralph must say “moorv”—“vroom” backward. Ralph can’t believe the car belongs to him, but Brad explains that he is gifting it to him as an apology for breaking his motorcycle. Matt remarks that Ralph’s relatives will be amazed to see him in his new car, but Ralph expects they have all moved upstairs. Matt confirms that many of the mice have relocated but the outside mice still come in at night looking for Ralph.

A man delivers the newspaper, and Matt notices a story about mice at the school. He asks Ryan if he and Brad know about the incident. The reporter has published a retraction to his previous story and apologized for misrepresenting the school and Miss K’s class. Ryan tells Matt the entire story about the mouse exhibit. Ralph listens to Ryan recount the story as he polishes his new car with a Kleenex. The newspaper calls him Ryan’s pet, which he doesn’t appreciate, but he is proud that he helped Miss K’s class learn about mice. Feeling exhausted from all the excitement, he settles in for a nap. Soon his relatives wake him, anxious to see his new car. They beg for rides, and Ralph, using what he learned in school, teaches them to stand in line and wait their turn just like the children in Room 5. He also explains that the sports car is more dangerous than the motorcycle, so only the oldest mice get to ride. Ralph reflects on his time in Miss K’s class and is thankful for all that he learned from her. He is even happier that his sojourn in school brought Ryan and Brad together in friendship.

Epilogue Summary

Brad’s father and Ryan’s mother meet, fall in love, and get married six months later, making the two boys brothers. They move to a house, but Ralph remains at the inn since Brad has a dog, Arfy. Ralph still spends his nights racing his car up and down the halls of the inn, and though he treats his relatives to rides, he never lets them drive.

Chapter 7-Epilogue Analysis

Miss K proves to be the best kind of teacher, who not only inspires her students to learn but also teaches them to be kinder, more empathetic humans. The students are concerned about the reporter’s misrepresentation of their class, but Miss K first deals with the internal conflict between two classmates. Her insistence that Brad and Ryan reconcile shows that she prioritizes teaching character over simply reciting facts and figures. Building on her lesson of tolerance and conflict resolution, Miss K encourages the students to hold off on sending their complaint letters until they can verify the facts about a possible mice infestation in their school. Her guidance teaches them about the importance of a measured, well-thought-out response to conflict. Meanwhile, through the reporter’s distortion of the facts, Cleary delivers a lesson of her own about fact versus fiction in journalism. The students in Room 5 move from a place of innocence to awareness in their understanding of the purpose of a newspaper. They assumed the reporter’s intentions were pure, but when the reporter misrepresents their school, they realize that they can’t believe everything they read in the newspaper.

Cleary also uses the reporter’s manipulation of the story to impart a lesson about appearances versus reality. The reporter spends less than 10 minutes at J. Sneed Elementary School yet formulates a decisive opinion of the state of the building, which leads to the spread of false information about the school. Likewise, Brad was misinformed about the nature of Ryan’s living situation and thus he formed an erroneous opinion about him, leading to their conflict. Both situations illustrate the importance of taking the time to truly understand a person and their situation to construct a clear picture of their identity. Otherwise, like the reporter, one risks making false assumptions based on appearances.

As the external conflicts in the narrative move toward resolution, Ralph’s internal conflict reaches its climax. Without his prized motorcycle, he feels he has no clear path forward in his life. He can’t stay at the school because he isn’t safe, yet he can’t return to the inn because his relatives will give him grief. Faced with this dilemma, Ralph makes the calculated decision to rely on his magical ability to speak to children and talks to Brad. Though Brad can do little to help Ralph or repair the motorcycle, Ralph feels better once he has expressed his frustration. Ralph’s magical gift also proves beneficial to Brad, who gets an opportunity to open up about his secret difficulties. Ralph’s decision to speak to Brad ultimately leads to the two boys becoming friends. Ralph is happy with the turn of events, and though he still mourns the loss of his motorcycle, he sees it as a worthwhile sacrifice for two lonely boys to find friendship with one another. In a twist, however, Ralph’s selflessness ends up benefitting him as Brad is moved to help the mouse and gifts him the sportscar. Ralph’s new wheels represent a new phase of his life. The car is safer, more stable, and more durable than the motorcycle. It is also a reminder of the friendship Ralph has with the boys and the friendship he helped forge between them. With Brad’s help, Ralph uses his imagination to create a new noise to power the car, illustrating that when a person has a transformative experience and enters a new life, the old ways of living and thinking no longer work. Using Imagination to Overcome Obstacles, Ralph must embrace new ideas to forge ahead in his new life.

Though Ralph has a new mode of transportation, the problem of his demanding relatives still exists. Ralph’s experience at school brings him to an epiphany when he returns home to the inn. He moves from self-blame over his frustration with the mice to a place of self-confidence in thinking of new ways to manage their demands. Ralph uses Miss K’s wisdom to guide his interactions with his relatives, leading to less stress for him and improved relationships with his extended family. Having now experienced school in person, Ralph moves from relying on what he learns from television to using his real-world experience to make decisions. The story ends happily for all, as Ryan and Brad become brothers when their parents marry and Ralph lives happily at the inn, racing his car through the halls.