reply

Chapter 10: Hyperjailbreak (Donovan Curtis)

Donovan’s attempt to spin the disappearing-Jalen situation to a worried Raina—“He isn’t missing. He just doesn’t happen to be here right now.” makes me think this underachiever needs to run for office. That’s politician-level doublespeak. And following up with “You have to look at it from the good-news-bad-news standpoint. We’ve already had the bad news—he’s gone.”  is a masterclass in downplay: creating a false equivalence between the observed “bad news” and the purely theoretical “good news.” He may be 13, but he’s ready for a press conference.

(Easter Egg watch—anyone else see it?: “So it just came to me—a way to swap all those little lies for a single big huge one…. So, believe it or not, Delancey, we’re pretty cool here.”)

But let’s not forget Jalen. Even Donovan has to bow to a younger, brighter obfuscator. “I could learn from this kid!” And agreed, @Owen: It’s hard to stay mad at Jalen when he’s singing his counselors’ praises while schmoozing with Arthropod.

Wordplay is my love language, and I’m a shameless fan of nicknames, so both “Jailbreak Jalen” and the forfeit/for fit misdirection absolutely deliver. And good for you, Manny, for scolding Raina “for not speaking clearly enough.” (Note: I’ll be watching the rest of the story closely to determine whether “Manny” is thus named because he’s super-competitive and patronizing. Maybe “Manny” is short for Mansplainer.)

Calling Raina “Rihanna”—ha! The name slip-up doesn’t make Jalen a “Rude Boy,” but it does indicate Raina isn’t the “Only Girl (In the World).” Still no solid clue what Jalen’s getting up to when he disappears. But toothpicks?!? It remains to be seen whether there’s an Easter Egg to be hunted (@Josh, no spoilers if you know!), but toothpicks are for sure a dog whistle to anyone who’s read the Korman Classics. I’m stoked that Donovan’s ending thoughts for Chapter 10 are nudging HYPERGIFTED into full-on mystery territory.