Part 1, Chapter 6 Summary

It is Rudolph's birthday and Axel has made a huge, German-based dinner. Mary does not like the food. She wishes her husband was more American and that their family was more like the normal families the nuns at the orphanage had taught her about. Axel toasts his son, hoping he will rise to the top and forget his family when he gets there.

Rudolph tries not to eat too much because he does not want to develop pimples from the fatty goose. Rudolph has a date later with Julie, the girl who lives across the street from Ms. Lenaut, and he is looking forward to it. Rudolph thinks about what his father has said in his toast and does not know how he is expected to rise to the top. The only talent Rudolph feels he has is the power to...