How to Eat Fried Worms

How to Eat Fried Worms is a children's book written by Thomas Rockwell, first published in 1973. The novel's plot involves a boy eating worms as part of a bet. It has been the frequent target of censors and appears on the American Library Association's list of most commonly challenged books in the United States of 1990-2000 at number 96. It was later turned into a CBS Storybreak episode in the mid-1980s, and a movie of the same name in 2006.

The story continues in two sequels: How to Fight a Girl and How to Get Fabulously Rich.

Plot summary
Alan bets his friend Billy that he can't eat 15 worms in 15 days. Billy, who needs money to buy a minibike, agrees to the bet only if Alan will pay him US$50 1973 for the win. Their friend Tom says he'll assist Billy, while another friend, Joe, sides with Alan. They search for worms near Billy's family farm and come up with a handful of night crawler earthworms the size of large pencils. As Billy nears victory, he faces a flurry of nasty tricks and traps that go wildly out of control.