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Every time someone mentions a tire gauge — on this board and in real life too — I laugh a little. Lifelong little inside joke with myself and now all of you.

Just finished Chapter 23. It’s getting suspenseful, it is so hard not to read ahead!! We’re not made of stone! But I do like it this way, it makes it last and makes me ponder and savor each chapter.

-I think Bella is turning out to be the star of the book, not Yash as much. She’s making such dumb decisions but the lessons she’s learning are going to stick with her for life. Like Asher said, she gets a pass because she’s a kid.

-Did not expect a chapter from Hammond either! What a jerk. It was fun to get an outsiders’ perspective on the Slugfest team. The part where Yash told him off was so heartwarming. His maturity is as off the charts as his athletic ability.

-Ms. Landkammer is fabulous. And Nitro Nate is turning out to be a great person too. I love that we all got some predictions right and some wrong. It shows that it’s an unpredictable book, but the characters are real and coherent.

-Everything about the Slugfest team is making this one of my favorite books of the modern era — the scene where they chose the name, the uniforms, the description of everyone except Yash and Cleo being awed by the tournament instructions. I was part of a few nerd teams in my day (like kids who were too nerdy to play sports but talented in other ways, and they found ways for us to be part of competitive events). The book got the feel of them so right.

-I want Cleo to be completely blown away by something and lose her cool in a good way, like when that kid who spoke his own language short-circuited (Zub! Zub vibes!!! Oh this is totally awesome!! Or whatever it was). She has a weary too-cool-for-this-world attitude. Most of it is justified given how smart and across-the-board talented she is, and how everyone else is making bad decisions except for her. I just want her to get to be a kid for a minute.