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Rhyme Schemer
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Pages 38-77Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of bullying and emotional abuse.
Pages 38-77 Summary
Note: These pages contain the poems “Day 17,” “Day 18,” “Day 19,” “Day 20,” “Weekend,” “Day 23,” “Day 24,” “Day 25,” “Day 26,” “Day 9,342,” “Day I Don’t Even Know Anymore,” “Weekend,” and “Day 30-Something.”
Kevin is furious that he can’t find his notebook again and vows to hurt Petey once he is big enough. At school, he reminds himself that he’s made of stone. One day, he catches Robin lifting up Freckle-Face Kelly’s skirt in front of everyone and attacks him. Kevin recognizes the look on Kelly’s face and drags Robin screaming into the bathroom, where he shoves him between the sinks. Hearing the noise, the librarian, Mrs. Little, races into the boys’ bathroom and sends Kevin to the principal. Hartwick suspends Kevin for hurting Robin. When Kevin’s mother comes to pick him up, she doesn’t say anything.
Throughout his three-day suspension, Kevin’s mother doesn’t talk to him, and his father is away on call. Kevin doesn’t see what the big deal is about suspension anyway because he is getting out of school. Paul reminds him that it is a big deal. Paul seems more bothered by the suspension than anyone. One night, Petey’s band comes over to practice. Kevin is annoyed by their screeching guitars on the other side of the wall.
Kevin tries to use his suspension to reflect on what he did to Robin. All he can think about is how “Petey shoves [him] under the sink” at home all the time and no one has ever done anything about it (48).
During the weekend, Paul confronts Petey about being a better brother to Kevin. Kevin guesses that the conversation has something to do with Paul studying to be a psychiatrist. Still, Kevin is grateful that someone notices how mean Petey is to him.
Back at school, Kevin is horrified to discover that Robin found his notebook and is now making fun of him for it. Then, he discovers that he has to shelve books in the library for the next two weeks as added punishment for his behavior. Kevin doesn’t think it can get any worse, until he finds out that Robin is distributing copies of the poems he wrote in his notebook. Kevin is mortified that Robin knows things about him, but he can’t retaliate or he’ll get expelled. Back in the library, Mrs. Little notices how upset Kevin looks and checks in on him. Kevin tries not to feel bothered.
At home, Kevin updates Paul on what happened at school. Paul reminds Kevin that it’s his own fault that Robin is passing out copies of his poems because Kevin is the one who hurt Robin in the first place. Kevin hates that Paul might be right.
Back at school, everyone starts calling Kevin “poetry boy.” Kevin tries not to let it bother him, deciding that he’s a bandit, not a boy. Still, he hates that Robin is now bullying him and has a band of followers. One day, Robin threatens to tattle on Kevin for pasting the found poems around the school unless Kevin makes new found poems and gives the credit to him. If Kevin doesn’t agree, Robin will copy the entirety of his notebook and give it to everyone. Kevin finally gives in, afraid that if anyone sees his notebook, he’ll get expelled. He starts making and pasting up more poems.
The days drag on. Kevin continues shelving books at the school library. At home, he listens to Petey’s band and yells rhymes about his feelings over their discordant playing.
In science class one day, Kevin learns about metamorphosis. He starts thinking about how he and even Robin have changed. Robin grows meaner by the day. When Mrs. Smithton notices him teasing or tripping Kevin, she never sends him to the principal’s office. Kevin tries not to let it bother him. He tries not to let his brothers bother him either. When he tells Paul that he’s a stone, Paul reminds him that he can’t hold everything in forever.
One day, Robin and Giant John attack Kevin, and he comes home with a split lip. Kevin jokes with Paul about getting into a fight and beating up his opponent, but he feels trapped and upset. At school the next day, Robin demands that Kevin make another found poem. This time, Kevin feels bad stealing a page from an old library book. He hangs the poem instead of letting Robin do it; Robin “wanted to get ‘caught’ putting it up” so that everyone would think he is the “Poetry Bandit” (76).
Pages 38-77 Analysis
After Robin gets a hold of Kevin’s notebook, Kevin experiences a role reversal, which challenges him to confront The Causes and Repercussions of Bullying. For Kevin, losing his notebook already feels like losing a part of himself. The loss is even more upsetting when he discovers that Robin is using his private thoughts against him. For months, Kevin has been the bully. He has harassed and hurt Robin for no reason except for his own insecurity and pain. Finding Kevin’s notebook gives Robin the upper hand and offers him an opportunity to gain power over Kevin. He uses Kevin’s poems as a way to humiliate and retaliate against his former aggressor in turn. This dynamic conveys how violence functions in cycles: Kevin hurts Robin because Petey has hurt him; Robin hurts Kevin because Kevin has hurt him. The only reason why Kevin can’t fight back against Robin is because of “the zero tolerance” policy at school (59). Kevin is thus forced to reflect on what he has done and how his actions have created this entrapping social situation.
In these pages, Paul’s character emerges as an unexpected mentor who takes on the role of guiding Kevin through The Challenges and Rewards of Personal Growth, another primary narrative theme. When Kevin tells Paul that he “can’t hit Robin / for making copies of [his] notebook / even though Robin could use a swift kick in the butt” (59), Paul doesn’t sympathize with this sentiment. Instead, he urges Kevin to consider why Robin is bullying him at all. He challenges Kevin to accept responsibility for the harm he caused Robin in the first place, which has in turn led to Robin’s desire for revenge. While Kevin often remarks that “Paul is annoying” when he offers up psychological tidbits (59), Kevin is also grateful that Paul is paying attention to him. Paul doesn’t simply scold or lecture Kevin. Instead, he tries to intervene on Kevin’s behalf, meet him where he is, and stand up for him when necessary. Paul even takes Petey aside and tells him “to be a better big brother, / a better person” (51).
Paul is a nuanced character because he does not take Kevin’s side without asking questions or encouraging Kevin to change. He sees both Kevin’s innocence and goodness and the places he has room to grow. Having an ally at home helps Kevin open up. He now knows that he has at least one person he can trust, which offers him the security to begin expressing and exploring his emotions in ways he hasn’t felt safe doing in the past. Having someone to talk to is particularly important to Kevin in light of his lost poetry notebook.
Since Kevin believes in The Value of Poetry as a Coping Mechanism, he feels unmoored without his faithful journal. The notebook is his safe place where he has been able to express his experiences, feelings, and frustrations without shame or fear. He writes in freeform poetic lines, which offer him a sense of simultaneous freedom and control. His thoughts are more manageable when written down, such as when he invents angry lyrics to accompany Petey’s band’s playing:
We hate everybody!
We hate you!
We hate everybody!
Especially you! (67).
The journal is also freeing because until Robin takes it, Kevin has not had to worry about anyone else’s judgment. Without the notebook, Kevin loses this form of creative catharsis.
At the same time, losing the notebook challenges Kevin to reach out to others, accept help and support, and find new forms of expression and connection. The library setting gradually gives him this safety. Initially, he resents the book-shelving punishment, but he gradually becomes more comfortable. The scene where Mrs. Little asks if he is okay marks a moment of change and foreshadows the librarian’s coming role in Kevin’s story. After this interaction, Kevin says, “So much for being / cold rock / that doesn’t care” (58). He has incidentally let Mrs. Little see his upset over Robin’s bullying. In doing so, he has allowed his vulnerability to show. While Kevin’s poetry is an essential part of who he is, losing the notebook helps him learn that poetry can create openings and connections, rather than just fueling his angst in private.
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