33 pages • 1-hour read
Leroy Ninker Saddles Up
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Chapter 7-CodaChapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 7 Summary
Walking through the storm without his boots or a lasso, Leroy shouts for Maybelline. Remembering Patty’s advice, Leroy shouts compliments into the wind, but there is no response. Then, he yells that he will cook her all the spaghetti she wants, but she still does not appear. Sad, he thinks of how perfect Maybelline is for him. The weather worsens, and the wind even blows Leroy’s hat away. It is the worst night ever. Leroy does not feel like a cowboy. Falling to the ground, he cries and pleads for Maybelline to return.
Meanwhile, Maybelline feels just as lost as Leroy. She is soaked, terrified, and exhausted. Coming to a standstill, she whinnies until the sound becomes a mere sigh. All she wants is Leroy and his compliments. Because she has neither and because the storm only gets worse, Maybelline begins to run again, in the opposite direction of Leroy.
Chapter 8 Summary
As Leroy stands bootless in mud, he looks up to see that the storm is receding and that it is almost dawn. The sun rises, a hopeful ball of light. At first, Leroy is too sad to care, but then he sees a hoofprint in the mud and realizes that he can track Maybelline. Although he lacks a cowboy’s necessities—hat, boots, and lasso—he can find his horse.
Three streets away, Maybelline stands in front of a house on Deckawoo Drive watching a family eat breakfast. Smelling the food, Maybelline whinnies. Leroy hears the sound and runs toward it, leaping over a bush and launching himself over a fence to get to her. When Leroy finds the horse, he shouts a bevy of compliments. Maybelline trots to him, and Leroy hugs the animal, nuzzling against her neck. As he leans against her with his eyes closed, he marvels that he found her without any of his cowboy gear. Then, a voice asks if the horse is his.
Chapter 9 Summary
When Leroy opens his eyes, a girl stands before him. He recounts what happened, and when she introduces herself as Stella, Leroy encourages her to compliment Maybelline. When Stella tells Maybelline how nice-looking she is, the girl also talks about her neighbor, a pig named Mercy. Then, a boy runs up, warning Stella of how dangerous horses can be. This is Frank, Stella’s anxious brother. When Maybelline sniffs the air and whinnies, Stella tells the horse that the smell is toast, which the Watsons eat every morning with Mercy.
Suddenly, Leroy knows where he is: Deckawoo Drive. Then he recognizes Mrs. Watson, who steps onto her porch next door. She, too, remembers Leroy and says hello. Leroy returns the pleasantry and introduces Maybelline, who Mrs. Watson declares to be a “true equine wonder” (83). Then she invites them inside for toast. When Leroy protests that Maybelline will not fit, the woman counters that there is always a solution to a problem. Stella takes Leroy’s hand and leads both him and Maybelline inside the Watson house to eat toast.
Coda Summary
In their new life together, Leroy and Maybelline go to the drive-in every night. While Leroy sells concessions, Maybelline watches the movies. She enjoys the Westerns, but her favorite films are the love stories, for she enjoys the “beautiful words that people [say] to each other” (89). Maybelline knows that Leroy will always speak kindly to her and that she will always listen.
Chapter 7-Coda Analysis
The novel’s climax and resolution emphasize the benefits of Overcoming Obstacles with Determination and Positivity as Leroy completes his character arc. Without his hat, boots, or lasso, Leroy is devastated that he has lost Maybelline. As the rain abates and the skies clear, Leroy is buoyed when he looks down and sees hoofprints in the mud, realizing he now has a way to track his horse. Following the hoofprints, his senses become heightened as he hears every sound and whinny nearby. Refusing to give up, “he leap[s] over a bush. He [runs] around a bicycle. He climb[s] over a fence and into a backyard” (73). These physical obstacles in his path represent all the challenges he has faced since bringing Maybelline home, ones he has tackled with resilience and a growing sense of confidence.
Leroy and Maybelline’s climactic reunion emphasizes The Importance of Following One’s Dreams—taking action to make intangible hopes a concrete reality. After finding his horse, Leroy realizes that he has truly become a cowboy, his ultimate goal. DiCamillo notes: “He had done it. He had taken hold of fate with both hands and wrestled it to the ground. And he had done it without a lasso, without boots, without a hat” (78). By following his goal, Leroy overcomes obstacles and faces down fear. When he notes that he found Maybelline without a cowboy’s apparel, Leroy acknowledges that his determination and courage are what make him a cowboy, not cool clothes and accessories. By chasing after his dream, Leroy learns that he is capable and possesses the courage he always dreamed of.
Van Dusen’s illustrations portray not only Leroy’s determination but also the deep bond that has developed between him and Maybelline. The two-page spread showing Leroy’s heroic leaps over bushes and walls depicts how his adrenaline and desire to find Maybelline literally launch him into action. The brush strokes showing his speed and the space between Leroy and the top of the fence emphasize that he will get his horse no matter what (74-75). Van Dusen draws Maybelline lowering her head so Leroy can hug her as he closes his eyes in contentment and she looks back at him with a smile, highlighting the loving bond between them (77). This mutual affection is again depicted when Leroy takes Stella’s hand and leads Maybelline inside the Watson house—a cowboy and his horse gazing happily at one another (85).
DiCamillo brings the narrative full circle by returning to Leroy’s initial challenge with Maybelline—his inability to get her inside his apartment—to reinforce The Need for Friendship and Community. While Leroy’s first attempt to get Maybelline inside was unsuccessful, he is finally able to do it with the help and support of his neighbors. When Mrs. Watson invites them inside, Leroy recognizes a familiar stumbling block since the horse is not likely to fit through the Watsons’ door. Undeterred, Mrs. Watson says, “‘There is always a way to make things fit’” (83). This declaration reminds Leroy of the positivity required to face down a challenge and the lesson he’s learned on his journey: through determination and positivity, it is possible to overcome even the most daunting problems.
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