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Sorry this is a bit late!
@Raymond you made me realize that Carter is similar to Cameron! That is a huge distance away from home! I think that the similarity to SLUGFEST is an excellent representation of how hilarious and excellent this book is.
And of course.
@Logan The opening is really cool! On that note about the impossible accident, I agree! I think it was normal enough to be reasonable to me as a reader, but impossible enough for it to be intriguing. Nice little detail. I honestly thought Carter was really nice. He’s not mean at all to his brother. I mean, his brother literally disabled him, breaking his legs. For six weeks? I’d be absolutely furious at my own little brother. If I were me and my real big brother were Carter, I’d never hear the end of it. Carter is really nice to Martin. Also, Carter, I agree, is freaking hilarious. I laughed so much in this first chapter. I actually showed my mom one of the jokes.
Honestly, I think you’re being really harsh on their dad. I don’t think he’s childish. I’m pretty sure there was some sort of skiing instructor watching as well? But Carter did establish that he snuck his phone without his dad’s knowledge, so there’s no way his dad would know he was being distracted by the phone. Also, it’s just all Martin and Carter’s fault. Not the dad’s. He was doing a normal dad thing. 12-year-olds are supposed to be mature enough to watch themselves and little siblings, apparently.
I don’t think the mom seemed that caring. I mean, she’s a normal amount of caring, but not super. One of her children literally broke his legs, and she didn’t come to visit. This isn’t shaming her, but I know that if that happened to me my mom would be there before I woke up. Maybe my mom’s just a helicopter mom, but the kids’ parents just seem like normal, nice, caring parents.
Chapter 2
I really appreciate all of the detail Carter gives us at how bad he is at using his wheelchair. I really appreciated how you gave insight into the life of someone who was just recently disabled, even if he’s not permanently disabled. I like the wheelchair-user representation and how overall this story shows that you don’t need to be able to walk, or you don’t need to be able-bodied in order to be a hero and make a difference. Thank you!
Every comment about Martin is hilarious. Weapon of mass destruction? Accurate descriptor for younger siblings. I love how much the mom was struggling to move Carter about all of the time. Supermom right here!
I thought it was cool how he could pick two student ambassadors for him. What a king! I’m a student ambassador at my school, you know? I think it’s cool how his bestie, Ethan, came to his house in the morning and we got to meet him. Ethan seems to be a cool guy.
Of course, of course. The crush on the cool, popular girl. I already don’t like this Lacey chick. I love how the kids are all connected because of the parental connection through moms in pickleball leagues. (I’m going to work on a book about pickleball next!)
Ugh, the virtual school. Gave me flashbacks to 7th grade! I wouldn’t wish that on anybody, but Carter seems to enjoy it enough. I like this Mr. Grimes character, and I like the foreshadowing with him being tired from his brother keeping him up. Wonder what that’s about…
Lastly, Maddox Miller. That’s a really cool name for a good or a bad guy. Can’t wait to see how much we DON’T like this kid!
Great chapter two!