Thomas Rockwell

Billy isn't one to back down from a bet. But this one is gross: If he eats fifteen worms in fifteen days, Alan will pay him fifty dollars. Billy takes the bet and tries worms smothered in ketchup, drowned in mustard, even breaded and fried. Worm by worm, Billy gets closer to victory. But Alan won't let him win that easily...

On his first day at a new school, eleven-year-old Billy goes up against the school bully in a challenge that ends up with a total gross-out date ... to eat 10 worms in one day. As the pressure mounts, Billy must summon all his strength to meet the dare, all the while keeping his weak stomach from betraying him and his big mouth from getting him in even more trouble.

"The wit, humanity, and many-sided talent of Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) are on full display in his classic autobiography, written with his son Tom Rockwell, himself an award-winning writer. The artist's New York City boyhood, his apprentice days at the Art Students League, his first fateful visit to the Saturday Evening Post, his adventures abroad, his move to rural Vemont - all are recounted with a mix of sharp observation and self-deprecating humor....