“First grade babies! Second grade cats! Third grade angels! Fourth grade…RAAAAATS!”

The opening lines establish the structuring motif of the novel. The rhyme introduces the children’s obsession with the idea that certain grade levels necessitate certain standards of behavior. In addition to setting a humorous tone, the rhyme also introduces the central conflict of the story.

“But I loved my lunch box. It was like a brother to me. Now that I thought about it, I wasn’t even sure I could eat lunch at school without it. And as for my lunch box going off to college with me someday—well, to tell you the truth, I didn’t see anything so bad about that.”

While Joey is adamant that he and Suds must become rats and leave the trappings of their childhood behind, Suds isn’t ready for such a drastic change. His thoughts in response to Joey’s criticism of his lunchbox characterize Suds as less cynical and more sensitive than Joey. This moment establishes the conflict between growing up and longing for childhood that drives Suds’s growth in the novel as he navigates the transition into preadolescence.

“We packed up our lunches. We didn’t even get to eat most of them. As we headed out, I wondered if anybody was looking at my lunchbox.”

Suds’s sudden self-consciousness following Joey’s criticism of his lunchbox demonstrates how powerfully this small example of peer pressure has already begun to change his behavior. His abrupt self-consciousness develops the newly established conflict surrounding his shifting identity within the transition to preadolescence.