Belle Prater's Boy Chapter 8 Summary

  • The next day, Woodrow starts school with Gypsy at Coal Station Elementary. He gets put in her classroom and all the other kids eye him with curiosity because he's Belle Prater's boy and because he's new in a small town.
  • Woodrow is nice to everyone, but he's especially nice to Rita, who is fat and always gets picked on. He tells her that she has nice hair and stands up for her when anyone teases her.
  • The teacher, Miss Hart, is also totally impressed by Woodrow when he starts talking about all he knows about caves.
  • Then he starts telling one of his long-winded stories about a man who got stuck in a cave and died.
  • During math class, Woodrow challenges the class with an interesting puzzle.
  • It's raining during lunchtime so everyone has to stay in the classroom. Woodrow goes up to the board and starts writing out more puzzles for everyone to solve. It's basically the best school day ever.
  • As they walk home from school, Gypsy tells Woodrow that he should be a teacher, but he says that he wants to make movies—and that his first film will be about plants that eat people.
  • He also says that all his cool stories and puzzles come from his mother; he didn't make them up himself.
  • After that, Granny's phone is always ringing for Woodrow, and it doesn't stop as long as he lives there. He's the most popular guy in town.