60 pages 2 hours read

Louis Sachar

Small Steps

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2006

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapters 5-8

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 5 Summary

Hoping to get seats close to the front, X-Ray picks Armpit up at 4 o’clock in the morning on the release day for Kaira’s concert tickets. While they wait in line, they listen to her music, and Armpit hears her sing “Save me, Armpit! A damsel in distress” (35). Confused, Armpit assumes he just misheard and goes back to studying his economics book. The guys in front of Armpit and X-Ray are also buying tickets to resell and work as a team, under the leaders Felix and Moses. They offer tacos to Armpit and X-Ray, and after Armpit has bought their 12 tickets ($60 each, in row M), Felix offers to buy them for $75 each, an offer that X-Ray flatly refuses. Armpit is tempted by the guaranteed, immediate profit, without the risk of losing everything. A discussion about supply and demand follows, and suddenly everything Armpit is studying in economics class makes sense. X-Ray refuses the $180 “pure profit, and no worries” (42) and gets Armpit to school slightly late for his economics test.

Chapter 6 Summary

Armpit scores 90 on his economics test and is in a good mood on his walk home when a stranger crosses the road to avoid him.

Related Titles

By Louis Sachar

Study Guide

logo

Sideways Stories from Wayside School

Louis Sachar

Sideways Stories from Wayside School

Louis Sachar

Plot Summary

logo

The Cardturner

Louis Sachar

The Cardturner

Louis Sachar

Study Guide

logo

There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom

Louis Sachar

There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom

Louis Sachar

Study Guide

logo

Wayside School is Falling Down

Louis Sachar

Wayside School is Falling Down

Louis Sachar