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Chapter 32: Hypergift (Donovan Curtis)

I want to acknowledge the nice little aside on predatory credit card practices—nothing like a MG novel slipping in a public service announcement for college-track readers.

Now, about those powers of 2 in HYPERGIFTED:
  > We had “Hyper32” back in Chapter 24, where 32 is 2⁵ (and 1000000—no comma!—in binary).
  > And the book features eight (2³) different narrators in its 32 (still 2⁵) chapters.
  > In today’s chapter, Noah is instructed to tear his Gaveler acceptance letter into 256 (2⁸) pieces (that’s 100000000 in binary).

Let’s read into that and assume some significance.
  > Are the “powers of 2” mentions an allusion to the concern that AI is subject to exponential growth (and the resulting lack of control)? @Josh, you brought up runaway AI before.
  > Is it a warning of the evils of binary thinking, which neglects “shades of grey” and destroys nuanced alternatives to yes/no, black/white, good/bad, true/false?
  > Do powers of 2 represent the doubling identity of coming-of-age, wherein Donovan’s self-image is actively splitting between his child and adult selves?

Meanwhile, the novel’s real twist: Noah has the brains for college, but not the maturity. Donovan has the reverse: He navigates campus solo, plays camp dad to the Baloneys, rescues his overclocked friend from the Gamma Kappas, and even spares Noah the sting of failing in his quest for the Gavel. Cap it off with a summer-ending girlfriend arc, and Donovan might be the most “hypergifted” character in the book—just not in the way Wilderton (or the Academy for Scholastic Distinction) measure it.

Moving on to a few HYPERGIFTED threads worth tugging. (@Gord: Perfectly happy to chalk these up as life’s little mysteries—but if you’re inclined to dish, we’re all ears.)
  >@Josh previously questioned whether Porquette’s Butternut Hall arrival had an explanation that got cut.
  > @Josh also wondered if the waffle iron was an abandoned subplot or a deliberate red herring. (Right up to the close of the book, I really figured Donovan would’ve bragged about getting off scot-free on the whole Porquette-living-in-the-dorm thing—but then the waffle iron would be found during a room inspection, resulting in drama.)
  > I haven’t mentioned it yet but wondered a couple of times if this was a story GRK originally outlined as a standalone book, then came back and fit to the “Gifted” universe. Or, was it always intended as a vehicle for Noah and Donovan as they aged out of middle school?
  > And @Owen asked the big question: Is this the swan song for our multi-Gifted duo, or just an intermission before the next encore?

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Thanks, @Owen and @Josh–it was a small returning group this time (the Core Maniacs?) but filled with good discussion and lots of deep callbacks and comparisons to the Korman canon. I hope other Kormaniacs will continue to add their takes on HYPERGIFTED and push this book club beyond 100 comments.