The War With Grandpa

Robert Kimmel Smith is the author of The War with Grandpa, which he published in 1984. The author of several other humorous books for young readers, like Bobby Baseball (1991) and Chocolate Fever (1972), Smith has a history of making readers laugh, and he does so again with The War with Grandpa. The book isn’t all laughs; Smith addresses serious themes like Conflict Within Families, The Difficulty of Change, and Poor Communication Versus Effective Communication. In 2020, the book became a movie, with Robert DeNiro playing the role of Grandpa Jack. In 2021, a sequel, co-written by Ann Dee Ellis, came out, The War with Grandma.

The page numbers in the study refer to an ebook version of the 1984 Yearling edition of The War with Grandpa.

Plot Summary

Peter Stokes is 10 years old and in the fifth grade. He’s the narrator and main character, and he’s telling his story because Mrs. Klein, his English teacher, wants her students to write about a “true” and “real” event. Using his dad’s typewriter, Peter writes about what happens with Grandpa Jack.

His little sister, Jennifer, thinks Peter should include Wonder Woman or Pac-Man, but if Peter did that, his story would be made up. However, Peter starts his story with Jennifer, as Jennifer tells Peter the big secret: Grandpa is leaving Florida, he’s moving in with them, and he’s going to take Peter’s room.

Peter loves his room. He’s been alive for 10 years, and all 10 years he’s occupied the room on the second floor. No one else has ever lived in it—it’s his domain and territory. He knows where everything is. He can get up in the middle of the night and not bump into anything.

During dessert, Peter’s dad (Arthur, an accountant) and mom (Sally, a homemaker) make the news official: Grandpa Jack (Sally’s dad) is coming, and he’s taking Peter’s room, forcing Peter to a room on the third floor. Peter expresses outrage. His parents communicate their reasoning—Grandpa has a bad leg, and they don’t want to make him walk up another flight of stairs—but Peter remains angry. He wonders why he must give up his room and not Jenny. With no comforting answers on the horizon, Peter storms off and cries in his room.

His dad tries talking to him again, but Peter doesn’t want to talk—he wants his room back. Over several days, his mom and dad move his things to the upstairs room. The night before Grandpa arrives, Peter sleeps in his new room, and it’s scary. He thinks of John Paul Jones, a naval captain who fought for the United States against the English in the Revolutionary War (1775-83), and he has an idea.

Grandpa is sad. He can’t build houses anymore, he has a bad leg, and his beloved wife died. He doesn’t go out with the family, and he tends to stare into space. His lifelessness worries his daughter.

With his friends Steve and Billy, Peter discusses the situation. His buddies encourage war. Steve, a brainiac, puts Peter’s predicament in conversation with the Revolutionary War. Billy compares Peter’s circumstances to World War II (1939-45) when Japan attacked America’s Hawaiian naval base, Pearl Harbor.

On his dad’s typewriter, Peter types a declaration of war, but he hides his identity (he goes by “the Secret Warrior”) and orders Grandpa not to tell his parents. Grandpa doesn’t reply, so Peter provokes him by making his alarm clock go off at 3:00 a.m.

Grandpa confronts Peter. He dismisses Peter’s conduct as a joke, but Peter is serious; they’re at war. Grandpa says family members don’t make war with each other because war isn’t a game—it’s miserable and hellish. Grandpa tells Peter the room situation is beyond his control. He didn’t want to leave Florida and take Peter’s space, but he refuses to switch rooms—thus, the war marches on.

Peter steals Grandpa’s slippers, but Grandpa finds them in the closet. He tries to talk to Peter again, but Peter stubbornly insists that Grandpa is his enemy. Grandpa slaps him. He wants Peter to remember that war hurts.

A compassionate young person, Peter understands why Grandpa hit him, and he doesn’t blame him. He notices Grandpa isn’t his usual glum self. He’s in high spirits, as is Jenny, who performs a ballet for the entire family.

Grandpa joins the war by taking Peter’s Monopoly pieces, so he and his friends can’t play the capitalist board game. They curse, but Peter doesn’t want his teacher to read the curse words, so he substitutes made-up words.

Peter and Grandpa take a break from the war to go fishing together. Peter has a terrific time, yet the war continues when Peter steals the wristwatch Grandpa’s wife gave him for their 40th wedding anniversary. Grandpa promises retaliation. One morning, he moves most of Peter’s things around (his socks are under the bathroom sink, his shoelaces are on the kitchen counter, and so on), causing Peter to have a horrible morning and almost making him late for school.

Peter’s friends can’t believe Grandpa’s gall, and they encourage an equally extreme attack. Peter doesn’t want to maintain the war. After he steals Grandpa’s false teeth, he feels horrible and ends the war. Grandpa and Peter communicate openly. They analyze what went wrong and brainstorm a practicable solution: They can turn the basement into Grandpa’s apartment, and Peter can have his room back.