42 pages • 1 hour read
Skinnybones
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Chapters 10-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 10 Summary: “Who’s on Second?”
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of bullying.
The reporters interview T.J. ahead of the game. Everyone in the audience (besides Fran and Ethel) is rooting for T.J., whose warm-up pitches are just as impressive as his pitches from the contest. The first batter is nervous, strikes out quickly, and then cries when he returns to the bench. The next two batters are even worse.
Alex’s team seems completely depressed, so Alex tries to improve morale with a huddle, but his words of encouragement are ineffective because everyone has already given up. Alex takes right field while their pitcher, Frankie, takes the mound. Alex tries to encourage Frankie, but Frankie tells him to be quiet, suggesting that this isn’t a normal game. Frankie’s pitches are embarrassing. When Alex notices the cameraman filming him, he puts his glove up to hide his face. At that moment, the player at bat hits the ball to right field, and it lands squarely in Alex’s glove. Alex is so surprised that he lets the ball roll out of his glove, and Frankie yells at him for dropping the ball. Alex is so angry that he gets distracted by arguing with Frankie and lets the opposite team score two runs. The coach is furious at Alex.
T.J. comes up to bat and hits a ball into right field. Alex is nervous about missing the ball again, but it ends up on the ground. As he prepares to intercept it, the ball hits a clump of dirt and takes a hard turn away from Alex, who then chases it down while T.J. scores a run. Alex sees how angry his coach is and pleads with God to delay the game until the man can calm down; Alex is worried that his coach will kill him when he comes in from right field. When the next few batters strike out, Alex asks if God is angry at him for wearing a gorilla suit during last year’s Christmas play.
The coach, barely containing his anger, sends Alex to bat first. Alex is terrified to face off against T.J because he knows that he cannot joke his way out of this. T.J. yells, “EASY OUT,” and warns the outfielders to prepare for a bunt. On the second pitch, Alex bunts and runs for base, thinking that he’ll be a hero if he makes it to first base. While the first baseman runs for the ball, T.J. covers first base, blocking Alex’s path. As Alex closes in on first, he distracts T.J. from catching the ball by yelling, “BOOGA BOOGA!” (101). The distraction is so successful that Alex makes it to second base. He is so excited that he jumps for joy and celebrates.
T.J.’s coach, Alex’s coach, and the umpire begin to argue over Alex’s distraction, engaging in an unintentionally hilarious conversation about the legality of shouting “booga booga” during play. Alex begins to joke along with it and gets ejected from the field. Alex spots T.J. laughing and decides to take advantage of the moment. He runs up and tickles T.J., who swats Alex away, embarrassed. Alex feels victorious, but when he sees the umpire coming for him, he flees the field and runs all the way home. He barricades himself in his room and decides to stay there.
Chapter 11 Summary: “Wake Me When I’m Grown”
Alex’s parents return an hour later. Alex dreads the conversation that his dad will want to have, and he fully expects to be lectured about running away from his problems and making jokes out of everything. When his dad comes to the door, Alex jokes at first, but this approach only makes his dad angry. Alex pleads that talking about what happened at the game is unnecessary because he already knows that he made a fool of himself by running out on his team. He asks that a bologna sandwich be slid under the door every day and to otherwise be left alone forever. He says that he’s thankful for all that his dad has tried to teach him and is sorry for being a disappointment. His dad walks away without another word and then returns a few minutes later and slips a bologna sandwich under the door. Alex is frustrated by the gesture.
The next day, Alex only leaves his room while his parents are at church. He is bored in his room, but he is also afraid to do anything to enjoy himself because he wants to look miserable if his parents check on him through the window. He comes out again at dinnertime and discovers that his parents have made fried chicken with mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. Unable to resist, Alex asks if he can have some dinner. He is on edge and initially misinterprets his mom’s comment about the dinner, assuming that she is calling him a chicken. After dinner, Alex thanks his parents and goes quiet for the rest of the night, worried about returning to school the next morning.
Chapter 12 Summary: “Who Would Have Thunk It?”
Alex tries to fake being sick Monday morning, but his mom forces him to go to school. On the way, Alex dreads the teasing that he’ll face from his classmates. He arrives to find a crowd of kids asking T.J. for his autograph. Alex hurries to his desk, and Mrs. Grayson quotes “ooga ooga” at him, but he corrects her that it’s “booga booga.” T.J. and the rest of the students flood in. T.J. calls Alex “Booga Booga Frankovitch” (117). Mrs. Grayson sympathetically offers to send Alex to the nurse, but Alex declines. Alex and T.J. exchange quips before Mrs. Grayson quiets them. T.J. gains permission to hold an autograph signing after class and boasts about his record-breaking win and his interview with ESPN.
Alex, envious of the attention, offers to pay Brian to say something nice about him. Brian announces how thankful he is that Alex is also in their class because he was brave enough to act like an idiot on television. The whole class laughs. Alex vows to dump Brian as a friend if he ever becomes famous. The rest of the day, Alex is tormented by the attention that he is getting as the “booga booga” kid. Alex accepts that he is just a laughingstock and will never amount to anything. He fights back tears in the middle of class.
The principal comes on over the loudspeaker, asking if Alex Frankovitch is in class. Mrs. Grayson confirms that he is. The principal announces to the school that, in addition to the talented and athletic T.J., the school has another star. Alex has been chosen as the winner of the Kitty Fritters Television Contest and will get to appear in a national commercial. The principal and the rest of the class congratulate Alex on his victory. Alex’s mom shows up in class, having delivered the news as soon as she got the letter in the mail. She thought it would be a good surprise to have the principal announce it. The letter says that Alex’s essay was the funniest submission and that they cannot wait to meet him.
For the rest of the afternoon, Alex and T.J. sit side-by-side at the front of the class, fielding questions about their big accomplishments. Though most questions go to T.J., Alex is happy to be part of the celebration. Alex reflects that T.J. is only a “big jerk” because he has always been treated like he is a big shot, so his behavior isn’t entirely his fault. Alex also realizes that Mrs. Grayson is the first teacher to appreciate his humor.
Alex and Brian banter with each other over Brian’s “idiot” comment. On the walk home, they talk about Alex’s future career in comedy. He hopes that the Kitty Fritter people don’t make him do anything embarrassing. Alex also talks to God again, praying for God to look out for him so that the commercial goes well. He promises to be more serious in church in return. Alex asks for a sign that God has heard him and takes a leaf on the wind as the confirmation he needs. He tells God to look him up in Hollywood because he’ll be a star soon.
Chapters 10-12 Analysis
The final few chapters of Skinnybones feature the novel’s climactic Little League game and the fallout of its events, revisiting the theme of Using Humor to Cope With Conflict and introducing The Value of Talent Beyond Athleticism. Chapter 10 is the longest chapter in the novel, and it features the escalating tension of the Little League game and the novel’s comedic climax. Throughout the first few pages of Chapter 10, the tension is tangible, as Alex’s team’s defeatist attitude and shame are magnified by the presence of news cameras. Even Alex’s attempts to fire his team up go unappreciated, and one team member even tells him that he is “just adding pressure” (91). While the game primarily highlights Alex’s lack of skill at baseball, he also continues to rely on humor to see him through the disastrous experience. Notably, his periodic pleas to God add a more serious counterpoint to his antics, revealing his embarrassment at letting his team down and suggesting that he does care about baseball more than he lets on.
The climax of the novel comes when Alex takes his place at bat, planning to bunt as foreshadowed in his earlier confrontation with T.J. Significantly, even this moment is infused with whimsical humor as Alex manages to bunt a pitch from T.J. and reaches second base by distracting his nemesis with the now-infamous battle cry of “BOOGA BOOGA!” (101), once again throwing everyone into disarray as the supervising adults try to decide whether his gambit is allowed to stand. When the umpire declares Alex “out,” this setback once again demonstrates the dangers of using humor to solve problems. Although Alex is amused by the fact that his antics have forced the adults to engage in a ridiculous argument over the legality of “booga booga,” his most triumphant moment is taken from him. When he causes a greater upset by using comedy in retaliation, he is forced to retreat in utter disgrace, and the experience shows him that his own talents might lie in an entirely different arena than baseball.
Alex acknowledges the more problematic aspects of his humor in Chapter 11 when he has time to reflect in his room and foresees his dad’s admonition that he must “[stop] trying to make fun of everything [that he is] no good at” (105-06). Although Alex is dreading the lecture, he already knows the important things he should take away from the experience when he analyzes the situation from his dad’s perspective. Accordingly, the final scenes of the novel shift toward a more positive celebration of talent beyond athleticism, especially when Alex’s clever essay lands him a starring role in a Kitty Fritters commercial. With Alex’s victory in the Kitty Fritters competition, Park suggests that athletic talent is not the only skill worth pursuing, and Alex gains the confidence boost he needs to avoid using humor as a crutch to compensate for his own insecurities. This shift in attitude is illustrated by his behavior during the class’s interview session, as Alex maturely observes, “Most of the questions were aimed at T.J. But I didn’t mind at all. It felt good just sitting up there […] in front of the room like some big shot celebrity” (128). Ultimately, Alex learns that not every moment is worth joking about, and he willingly shares the spotlight with T.J. and does not ruin the moment with poorly timed comedy. In the end, Park uses the novel to illustrate that while comedy is a valuable talent, it cannot be an escape hatch for everyday problems and anxieties. As Alex begins to learn moderation, he moves toward his future stardom with newfound optimism.
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