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I’m back and caught up 🙂 Loving the tournament chapters and also all of your commentary. Thanks Raymond for the helpful response on the movies!

23: Nooooooooo Nate found out! But also some relief here, because I knew he was going to find out somehow and I didn’t want it to be in the middle of the game. Not that right before is much better, but at least it didn’t happen while one of them was supposed to be running or something.

@Raymond: Really appreciate your comment on the changing nature of the parents in the books relative to the changing nature of families since the 80s. Had not occurred to me and like you said, it’s great that the intended readers can likely relate to it.

24: Cleo’s such a beast. You all said it but she’s the best person to narrate the game. 

I melted completely when she mentioned Yash and Kaden’s fist-bump/high-five! I love them!!!

25: Hahaha of course he played Stuart and Sarah against each other. I enjoy the most bizarre characters the most. 

These chapters are so earned! Kaden turning around and running the wrong way to confuse the Falcons was HILARIOUS. Loved the Falcons being little human computer robot players who short-circuited at Kaden and Fiona because they’re nerds who can’t play football in the traditional sense.

26: Haaaa we knew it! We knew the prank was gonna take off! I would have loved a little more detail about it along the way, like the head protester seeing the tweet and getting all his gullible friends together, but they sure showed up when we needed them. 

Very funny self-awareness in this chapter with all of the talk about Bad News Bears and The Mighty Ducks. By the way I’ve never seen either but I had been picturing Dodgeball and the Oscar-nominated Lagaan. What’s everyone’s favorite underdog sports movie?

I know I’m going to have a generally negative opinion about a character in a GK book when they jog to and from everywhere, and Hammond and Amir are no exception. Jerks.

27: Oh Bella! My heart breaks for her. Look at her being a trooper and staying in the game. Actually I forgot to mention earlier it was one of my favorite parts of the book when she says “It. Will. Happen.” and that’s that.

Also speaking of favorites: the description of Kaden’s throw and Yash’s catch is my favorite sports moment so far. What a character. All the descriptions of him being beside himself, yelling gleefully that he’s sweaty, exclaiming that he’s never been an underdog — all full laugh out loud moments for me and “There’s true horror in his eyes” topped it off.  

I kind of pictured something like that for the winning play so now I’m really curious what will end up happening. By the way, I watched the Superbowl and was imagining how funny it would be if I suddenly understood the game and was making a bunch of intelligent comments because of Slugfest. I didn’t, and don’t even know if “play” was the right word in this paragraph, but still a funny thought.

And yes friendship is definitely the common theme. I read the quote on the back  mentioning “Korman’s signature blend of comedy, drama, and angst” and the “warm fuzzy feeling” and I think the friendship is the unwritten part of that. Friendship where you might accomplish the impossible!