54 pages • 1 hour read
Gordon KormanBorn to Rock
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2006A 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 7-11Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 7 Summary
It’s the end of senior year. Leo feels good about his acceptance to Harvard and having scholarship money to pay for it. He and his friends are all excited about their college acceptances. Leo has told no one about his biological father.
But then, Leo receives a letter from his scholarship foundation revoking his scholarship to Harvard due to the ethics violation on Leo’s record. Leo is devastated. He won’t be able to afford 40 thousand dollars for his first semester. Leo’s parents attempt to fight for him by calling Harvard and the scholarship foundation, but with no success.
At school, Leo keeps his smashed Harvard dreams to himself. He doesn’t want anyone to know his plans have changed. Melinda excitedly tells Leo about Concussed World Tour—an annual punk and metal festival. This year, Purge will be reuniting after 16 years to headline the event. Leo has mixed feelings. He should be more excited about his biological father emerging after so long out of the public eye, but the loss of his Harvard future puts him in a bad mood. He's rude to Melinda and insults Purge’s music. He takes out his anger on her, even though he knows she doesn’t deserve it.
That weekend, Owen visits to tell Leo how hurt Melinda is. Owen and Melinda spent the evening waiting in line for tickets to the Concussed World Tour press conference. Owen adds that he tried to convince Melinda not to buy a pass for Leo, but she did anyway, despite his behavior. Leo is again rude about their love for Purge, claiming he doesn’t want to see a bunch of nobodies, but Owen reminds Leo that Purge has sold tens of millions of albums. Leo realizes that means his biological father is rich and can pay for Harvard.
Chapter 8 Summary
Leo, Melinda, and Owen take the train into the city. Melinda has forgiven Leo. She’s too excited about Purge to stay mad. Leo has checked her blog and seen her posts about how important this night is to her. All the way, Melinda and Owen gush about the band members, while Leo sits silently, thinking about his next move. He’s brought a letter to give to King Maggot, but he’s unsure how to get close enough to do so.
At the venue, Melinda gets the trio close to the blocked-off press area. It takes hours for the other bands finish their interviews, but Purge finally emerges for their first public appearance in 16 years. The crowd goes crazy. Leo isn’t sure how to feel about gazing upon the McMurphy part of his heritage for the first time.
The band dodges interview questions with obscenities and joke answers, and the crowd loves it. When a reporter asks King why he’s never settled down with a family and King responds that he just never had kids, Leo rushes the stage with his letter in hand, claiming to be King’s son. Leo urges King to read the letter and flings it at the band before security carries him out.
Leo finds Melinda and Owen on the train. Melinda is angry because she thinks Leo did that as a prank to mock her music. Leo tries to explain, but Melinda moves away from him.
Leo’s antics make the news. Leo’s mom does a puzzle to deal with the stress. Leo’s dad thinks Leo went to connect with his father, but Leo confesses that he was after college tuition. Leo’s dad feels ashamed that he doesn’t make enough money to pay for Harvard. He regrets quitting his Wall Street job after Melinda’s father died. Leo feels guilty and ashamed. He reassures his dad that he didn’t even meet King Maggot, but they both know that’s not the point.
Chapter 9 Summary
In the last week of school, Fleming Norwood kicks Leo out of the Young Republicans for the cheating scandal. That day, Leo receives a call from King Maggot’s lawyer to discuss the paternity allegations. They arrange a meeting for the next day at the hotel where Concussed is headquartered.
The presidential hotel suite is packed with Concussed tour members, roadies, managers, and media. Bernie McMurphy, Purge’s manager and King Maggot’s cousin, is friendly to Leo. He knows Leo is the kid claiming to be King Maggot’s child, so there’s a chance they’re family. Bernie leads Leo to King Maggot, who is finishing an interview.
King looks over Leo silently. Leo feels weird being face-to-face with McMurphy. When King asks about Leo’s mother, Leo shows a photo of his mother holding him as a newborn. King doesn’t remember her, but wishes he did. Leo feels his own McMurphy coming out in anger, but before he can unload, Bernie returns and asks what King thinks. King believes they are related because Leo has a notch in his ear that runs in the family. They plan to confirm it with a DNA test, but that will take six weeks.
King wants to get to know Leo in the meantime, so he arranges for to Leo join Purge on the Concussed tour as a junior roadie. Leo is sour about King’s aloofness and gruff demeanor, but he has nothing else to do this summer, and it’s his only hope of getting his Harvard tuition. King thanks Leo for coming out. Bernie escorts Leo away.
Chapter 10 Summary
Leo wonders what he was thinking, agreeing to be a roadie for Purge all summer. He explains his new summer gig with Purge to his dad, who is outraged and concerned. He insists on meeting King Maggot. Leo worries about his dad meeting his biological father after all this time. Despite Leo’s reluctance, Leo’s dad arrives at the hotel an hour later.
Leo’s dad is familiar with the punk scene from when he was Leo’s age. They wait around for King to finish his interview with Rolling Stone, and then Leo’s dad confronts King about keeping Leo safe and protected from the more dangerous parts of the tour. King agrees to look after Leo. The conversation is brief, as King and Bernie move on quickly. Leo’s dad worries about what they’ll tell Leo’s mom.
Chapter 11 Summary
Leo’s mom has brought out all her puzzles to occupy her mind and distract her from the idea of Leo traveling with King Maggot and the rest of Purge; she feels King Maggot is a degenerate and doesn’t want Leo to go. Leo’s dad sticks up for Leo, insisting that he’s old enough to make this decision for himself and adding that he spoke to King about keeping Leo safe. Leo doesn’t hear from King Maggot, but he receives instructions to submit DNA for the paternity test.
At Leo’s high school graduation, Vice Principal Borman boasts about Leo’s Harvard acceptance when handing over Leo’s diploma, enraging Leo. Leo sees Melinda and Owen. Melinda is reserved, but asks if Leo got to talk to King Maggot. Leo tells Melinda about the McMurphy family ear notch and the DNA test, but he doesn’t tell her about his role as a roadie on Concussed. He expects Melinda to ask him more questions, but she is quiet. Leo worries that King Maggot, the first thing they’ve ever had in common, is creating distance between them. Owen tells Leo that it’s cool that King Maggot is his dad. Leo wishes them a nice summer.
Chapters 7-11 Analysis
Chapters 7 through 11 follow Leo in the aftermath of losing his Harvard scholarship, as he goes from straight-lacers overachiever to Purge roadie to build a father-son relationship. Leo’s identity is challenged and molded a great deal by his first experiences in the world of live punk music.
In Chapter 7, Leo’s primary conflict escalates: the cheating accusations have cost him his scholarship to Harvard, and Leo’s family cannot afford tuition. Leo keeps the news of his lost scholarship a secret from all his friends, which leaves him in a bad mood. He lashes out at Melinda and Owen and calls Purge “stupid, pointless, noise” (55). He goes a step further to direct this rage at Melinda’s embodiment of her music, saying “Look at you—you’ve based your whole life on [punk music]! What does that say about you?” (55). Rather than reveal what’s bothering him, Leo allows his friends to continue to believe everything is okay, which leads to Leo lashing out and attacking Melinda on a personal level. This moment develops the theme of The Ethics of Lying by Omission by showing how keeping important things from people can lead to emotional volatility. This scene also develops the theme of Music and Self-Expression as Leo attacks punk music and Melinda’s devotion to it in the same breath.
Leo continues this harmful secrecy when he accompanies Melinda and Owen to the press conference. Rather than ask them for advice and tell them the truth about why he’s joining them, Leo keeps this information to himself and ends up hurting Melinda in the process. After Leo gets thrown out for accosting King and claiming to be King Maggot’s son, Melinda accuses Leo of trying to undermine the importance of music to her. Melinda’s anger comes from a place of misunderstanding, borne from Leo’s refusing to share what is really going on with him.
Despite the fact that Leo and Melinda’s friendship is on shaky terms, Leo once again lies by omission. Although he confesses to Melinda that he met King Maggot and is likely King’s son, he neglects to tell her that he’s going to be living her dream on the Concussed tour, as a roadie for Purge. Leo can hurt that Melinda is distant toward him after the press conference: “You’d think that me being [King Maggot’s] flesh and blood would be good in her eyes. But she seemed to resent it, like I’d stolen him from her” (94). By not saying anything about his new summer gig, Leo shows that concealing information can sometimes come from a place of empathy and protectiveness—a different take on The Ethics of Lying by Omission. Although Leo is upset that Melinda is cold toward him, he realizes what is likely the root of her feelings and leaves well enough alone rather than tell her more about how he’s going to spend time with her idol.
The theme of Genetics and Identity is heavily explored through Leo’s encounters with both the real McMurphy, and the McMurphy in his head. In Chapter 8, Leo gazes upon King Maggot in person for the first time. He narrates, “This was McMurphy. The McMurphy on my birth certificate, […] in my veins” (63). He goes on to describe King Maggot as “the missing piece in the puzzle of who I was” (63). Although Leo has had nothing to do with King Maggot his entire life, Leo feels a part of his identity comes from King Maggot because of King Maggot’s genetic contribution. In Chapter 9, when Leo gets to meet King Maggot one on one, the McMurphy motif returns. This time, Leo gets so worked up at King Maggot’s aloofness, he decides “to introduce my bio-dad to a little piece of himself. It was time for McMurphy to crash the party” (79). Leo doesn’t feel like the piece of himself that is McMurphy is himself, rather he feels it’s part of King Maggot instead. This shows how Leo continues to separate his crafted persona from his McMurphy urges.
Puzzles as a symbol of avoidance make an appearance in Chapters 8 and 11: Every time Leo’s mom must confront her past with King Maggot, she pulls out the puzzles instead. When Leo makes the news after the press conference stunt, his mom pulls out a 6,000-piece Titanic puzzle. Similarly, when Leo and his father reveal that Leo has signed on as a roadie with Purge under King Maggot’s supervision, “Every table, counter, cabinet top, and a good percentage of floor space hosted an elaborate jigsaw puzzle” (91). With the knowledge that Leo will be travelling with Purge, Leo’s mom dives into full avoidance, distracting herself: Leo accuses her of “doing fifty puzzles because you won’t face the fact that I’m going on Concussed” (91). Leo’s mom’s use of puzzles symbolizes her refusal to face truths about her past with King Maggot and Leo’s right to know his biological father. Jigsaws thus become a reverse of Leo’s pinball imagery. While his ideas about pinball highlight its unpredictable nature, jigsaws are the opposite—a random scattering of pieces that get sorted and placed into complete order.
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