44 pages • 1-hour read
Billionaire Boy
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Chapters 10-18Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of bullying.
Chapter 10 Summary: “Dog Spit”
After learning his identity, Joe’s classmates hound him, begging for money and mocking him for his toilet paper fortune. Joe escapes into the cafeteria, where Mrs. Trafe yells at all the kids. He declines Mrs. Trafe’s dog spit sauce and sits down with some chicken breast, telling Mrs. Trafe all about his problems. Mrs. Trafe at first sympathizes with Joe—and then asks him for £10,000 for a hip surgery.
Chapter 11 Summary: “Camping Holiday”
Joe is picking up litter around the school grounds with Bob when the Grubb twins come along. They confuse Bob by asking him to come camping with them, which he politely declines. They feel he is being difficult and ask Joe for more money to not bully him, pointing out that Joe is rich. Bob is offended that Joe paid them off and feels that Joe has made him a “charity case.” He hates being pitied and gets angry at Joe, who is upset that Bob does not appreciate his kind gesture. The boys storm off, upset with each other.
Chapter 12 Summary: “Page 3 Stunna”
That evening, Joe tells his dad about his fight with Bob, and his father reassures him that most people value money and soon he’ll make lots of friends. Mr. Spud’s model girlfriend, Sapphire, soon arrives for dinner, and the three sit down to their dinner of potato chips. Sapphire has a spray tan, long painted fingernails, and wears heavy makeup. Joe can’t believe how demanding she is and how ungrateful she acts for all of Mr. Spud’s luxurious gifts. After she reads her birthday wish list, Joe gets upset and accuses her of only dating Mr. Spud for his money. He angrily sends Joe to his room, where Joe reflects on how their wealth has ruined the life they lived with Joe’s mom in their old apartment. After a while, Mr. Spud comes in and apologizes to Joe, explaining that Sapphire makes him happy. He promises that he will talk to the school principal and work out Joe’s problems at school.
Chapter 13 Summary: “New Girl”
When Joe returns to school, he is pleasantly surprised to discover that he is no longer the center of attention. A new girl named Lauren has joined the class, and everyone is buzzing about how pretty she is. Joe enjoys talking to Lauren and tells her that his name is Joe Potatoe, so she won’t discover his real identity. Bob comes along to apologize to Joe, whom he hasn’t seen for a while. Joe has been busy with his racing cars, and Bob has been continually put in garbage cans by the Grubbs.
Joe rebuffs Bob’s apology, wanting to focus on Lauren. After Bob leaves, Joe makes fun of him, making Lauren laugh. Joe immediately regrets saying bad things about Bob. Later, in history class, Joe struggles with an answer, and Lauren helps him by miming it for him. After school, Joe shyly asks Lauren to hang out with him, and she happily agrees. He cannot believe his luck.
Chapter 14 Summary: “The Shape of a Kiss”
Joe and Lauren go to Raj’s shop to buy popsicles and sit chatting in a park. Joe is enjoying his time until the Grubb twins arrive and threaten Joe, asking for more money. Lauren stands up to them, and when they tell her to sit down, she karate chops them and scares them off. Joe is impressed with her bravery, and she explains that she knows some martial arts. The two decide to have lunch together the next day, and as they say goodbye, Joe closes his eyes and puckers his lips, only to discover that Lauren is already walking down the street. Still, Joe is thrilled to have almost kissed her.
Chapter 15 Summary: “Nip and Tuck”
The next day Joe and Lauren go to the cafeteria, where Joe notices that Mrs. Trafe is looking quite different, like she’s had a makeover. Joe realizes that she spent the £10,000 he gave her on plastic surgery instead of a hip replacement. Mrs. Trafe claims she just needs £5,000 more, and then she’ll have her real surgery. Joe is angry that she misused the money he gave her.
At a local fish and chips shop, Lauren confronts Joe about the money talk, and he reveals the truth about his fortune. Lauren assures him it won’t change their friendship. Joe notices that Lauren hasn’t eaten much, and she vaguely tells him that she can’t because she cannot gain wait since the shop she works in is very narrow. Joe is suspicious.
Chapter 16 Summary: “Peter Bread”
The kids learn that their mean history teacher, Miss Spite, has been fired, and they rejoice together. Inwardly, Joe feels a bit bad for her since she was an effective teacher. Lauren dismisses Joe’s concerns for Miss Spite. They meet their new teacher, Peter Bread, who the kids quickly nickname “Pita Bread.” Mr. Bread tries to take attendance, but the kids are out of control, taunting him.
Chapter 17 Summary: “A Knock on the Toilet Door”
Joe is in the bathroom when Bob comes to find him and wants to talk to him. Bob reveals that he thinks Lauren is an actress; a “fake” person, who is only pretending to like Joe. Joe is furious at Bob’s story and tells him they are not friends anymore. Bob is hurt, and Joe tries to make amends by offering him money. Bob refuses and storms out, leaving Joe to pick up the wet money off the floor. When Joe asks Lauren about the rumor, she insists it isn’t true and makes Joe promise to never talk to Bob the “liar” again.
Chapter 18 Summary: “The Vortex 3000”
Joe and Lauren sign a petition to rehire Miss Spite and get Mrs. Trafe to sign it. All the other children refuse. They visit the principal, Mr. Dust’s, office to deliver the petition, but his cheerful secretary, Mrs. Chubb, informs them that he has just left. Joe and Lauren go to the parking lot to find Mr. Dust, but he speeds away on his motorcycle. Joe recognizes the type: a £250,000 Vortex 3000. Joe is suspicious about why Miss Spite has suddenly been fired and why the principal now has an expensive motorcycle. Lauren changes the topic and offers to meet Joe at Raj’s shop. He agrees, but he has a strange feeling about everything.
Chapters 10-18 Analysis
These chapters deepen the theme of Confronting Social Inequality With Humor. When Joe’s wealth is revealed to his classmates and teachers, they are all amazed and jealous of his fortune. His classmates hound him with questions: “How many helicopters have you got? Why do you bother going to school anyway, you are rich! […] Why don’t you buy the school and sack all the teachers?” (126). The revelation doesn’t make them accept or respect Joe—it just alienates him in a different way. These interactions between super-rich Joe and his new social circle show the huge chasm between his life of luxury and the working-class realities of his classmates and teachers. Mrs. Trafe may really need hip surgery, and the kids who ask for money aren’t doing so out of greed. Joe is used to building relationships through money, so he concedes to the requests. However, this doesn’t lead to lasting friendship—only more requests. By showing how Joe struggles to make genuine connections when the people in his life want or need the wealth that he already has, the chapters underscore that social inequality between the ultra-wealthy and the majority of society can’t be easily bridged.
This tension also affects Joe’s friendship with Bob. While Bob had assumed that their friendship was based on shared interests, honesty, and respect, he learns that Joe secretly used his money to try to solve Bob’s problems with the Grubbs. This makes Bob feel like he is pitied by the much wealthier Joe, showing how Bob feels self-conscious about being working class: “Bob’s eyes filled with angry tears. ‘You think money is the answer to everything, don’t you? […] I am not some charity case, you know’” (140). While Joe struggles to understand Bob’s perspective, his time attending public school has changed his understanding of money and wealth. Before he changed schools, he was very wasteful with his money, even using £50 notes to “line the hamster cage” or “to get the barbecue going” (59). Now Joe is more aware of money’s real value and what it is worth to people with regular incomes and lifestyles. When Bob throws Joe’s money back at him, Joe doesn’t leave it on the ground. He “got down on his knees and started picking up the wet bank notes” (197). This act shows that even though the money is meaningless to Joe, he understands that he hurts Bob’s feelings and doesn’t want to insult him further.
This scene connects with the theme of The Irreplaceable Value of Genuine Friendship. Mr. Spud assures Joe that his wealth will soon make him popular with his classmates, telling him, “You’re rich. People like that. The sensible ones, anyway. Not like this idiot Bob” (145). Showing off his wealth is how Mr. Spud attracts his friends, as well as his girlfriend, Sapphire, who is always asking for new things. However, Joe is not sure if he agrees, as his classmates simply beg him for money, while his real friend, Bob, actually showed an interest in his life. He also notices how Sapphire uses his father to get fancy new things but doesn’t seem to like spending time with him. Joe is angered by Sapphire’s demanding birthday wish list, which includes a “private jet (new please, not second-hand) (150)” a “bucket of diamonds (150)” and finally, “Belgium” (151). When she even forgets Mr. Spud’s name and calls him “Ken” instead of “Len,” Joe intervenes and tries to help his father see how Sapphire is using him.
Joe’s efforts to help his father find genuine love are ignored, and his own search for genuine friendship is threatened when Bob reveals that Lauren might be an actress. Bob tells him, “‘Joe, I think she’s just pretending to like you.’ Joe put his face next to Bob’s. He hated being this angry. It was scary being so out of control. ‘SAY THAT AGAIN…’” (194). Joe’s furious denial of this rumor shows his attachment to Lauren and how much he values authentic relationships over superficial connections. Joe resents that his father is using the same tactic he used with Sapphire to get Joe a girlfriend.
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