I remember reading about half of a book when I was a kid, then I accidentally left the book somewhere so I never finished reading it. This would have been 1984-1987.
The story concerned a boy who was well-known in his neighborhood for entering all kinds of contests and sweepstakes. A female friend of his teases him about how pointless it is one day as he is filling out an entry blank for one, so he tells her that just to prove her it’s not a waste of time, he will split the winnings with her if he wins that particular sweepstakes. Of course he wins, and the prize is a million dollars (or maybe more). His family is thrilled, but at first he doesn’t tell them that he promised away half of it. Then they have to deal with a bunch of the issues that come with receiving a large sum of money – taxes, questions about how best to spend/save/invest the money, etc.
Since I never got to finish the book, I’ve always wondered what happened in the end. Did he split the money with the girl? Did he get to buy himself a really swell college education?
Did any of you read it? Do you remember the title? I’ve tried searching for it a few times, but I’ve never found it. There’s a sequel to *How to Eat Fried Worms * where one of the young characters wins the lottery, but that’s not the book I’m remembering.