1. Theme

2. Swear to Howdy Author Wendelin Van Draanen Publisher Yearling
Copyright
2005

3. The theme of a book is usually a sentence that describes the book’s main idea or basic message. A story’s theme is not just a topic or subject like animals, weather, or friendship.

4. A story’s theme is usually broad or wide in scope, such as:
Surviving the ups and downs of middle school may not always be pleasant, but it can be done!

5. Being a true friend sometimes means breaking a promise to that friend.
Joey and Rusty go swimming the first day they meet. Something embarrassing happens to Joey, so he makes Rusty PROMISE not to tell anyone—SWEAR TO HOWDY!

6. Joey’s sister, Amanda Jane, and Rusty’s sister, Jenna Mae, are hired to sell peanuts, popcorn, and pop at baseball games. The girls are called Diamond Dolls. Rusty and Joey put bugs into the girls’ drinks, and the girls get fired. So for the second time the two boys SWEAR TO HOWDY they will never tell anyone what they have done.

7. Joey and Rusty continue to have many secrets that they swear they will never tell. Some secrets are about dead goldfish and a dead cat.
But one secret they swear not to tell is about the prank they pull that causes the death of Joey’s sister when she accidentally crashes her car into a telephone pole.

8. Keeping the secret about Amanda Jane’s death makes Joey and Rusty feel horrible. Joey feels so guilty that he makes homemade wine and gets drunk and tries to kill himself with his .22 rifle. Luckily, Rusty stops Joey and breaks the pact and tells the truth.

9. Joey does not forgive Rusty for breaking the pact, and they aren’t friends anymore. Joey wonders if
he did the right thing.
“And it made me wonder what being a true friend actually meant. Had I messed up for good, breakin’ the pact? But how could a true friend let things go on?”
(page 121)

10. Being a true friend sometimes means breaking a promise to that friend.
Joey, his mom, and sister move, and so do Rusty and his family. Rusty writes letters to Joey, and eventually Joey understands what a true friend Rusty had been.
Being a true friend sometimes means
breaking a promise to that friend.

11. Theme