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“English class is one boring required read after another.” (Pg.11)
You can tell that he doesn’t like reading anymore and it’s because his dad makes him read his dictionary. His life is surrounded by his dads words but even if it’s a different book why doesn’t he like it? Even if it’s really exciting and has lots of turns he still not want to read it.

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“To nip something in the bud.” pg 17.

This means dealing with a problem when it is still small and before it grows into something larger.  This metaphor might relate to sticking up to Coby when the bullies are teasing him, which also shows that Coby and Nick are good friends.

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“Which sends almost everyone in the class into fits of contagious snickering. Everyone except Ms. Hardwick.”
(Page 16)
From this text I can tell that Nick is probably the class clown, but also that he doesn’t like English class. He probably gets distracted, which is why he makes jokes instead. The text said “almost everyone” was laughing, so I can infer that some people who don’t like Nick, or people like Winnifred weren’t  laughing.”

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“After practice your psyched to call Coby and brag about the awesome letter your coach read tot he team,” “…when he laughs and says, Yeah, we got one too.” Page 30 (Bragging Rights).
I think Nick is upset and even sad because he was all excited to brag about how good his team is, but Coby’s team is just as good. Also, he is very surprised to find out his best friend will be at the tournament. I think he was looking for approval from his friend or for his friend to be proud and even jealous of him.

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On page 31, “Dear coach, your team is invited to compete in the Dr. Pepper Dallas Cup” Knowing that Nicks friend Coby also got in is telling me that there will be a major bump in their friendship. I feel this way because whenever I read a book about two friends competing on different teams, they always hate each other and work hard to show that their better than the other so they could stop being friends. Especially if they are going to compete against each other.

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22-23 “Hi I’m Nicks mom, nice to meet you, mom screams out the window as you jump in. Hi Mrs. Hall. Hello Darling. What’s your- Mom, Stop. Bye April. Please mom drive.”
This shows the he likes April and is embarrassed when his mom talks to her.

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P. 19-20
“Can’t today, you lie. Gotta catch up on some homework.”
It looks like Nick has a crush on April, a girl in the special class his mom signed him up for and he’s excited to see her. But why would he lie to his friend about it?  Does it maybe have something to do with the class he’s taking and he’s embarrassed about it? It looks like Coby doesn’t know about the class or Nick’s crush. Maybe it will cause some sort of conflict in their friendship, farther into the book because Nick didn’t tell him.

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“Your team is invited to compete in the Dr. Pepper Dallas Cup…” Page 31

Kwame is creating an allusion to the MLS Next Cup in Dallas. In order to know what this cup is, you would need to play in the MLS Next because most people don’t know what the cup is. Kwame creates this allusion by mentioning how Coby and Nick are strong soccer players. I can infer their age as well because in order to play in the cup, you need to be fourteen or older. Kwame also gives descriptions about everything that takes place in Dallas throughout page 31. Clearly, Kwame is highly involved in the MLS Next knowing this information.

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Pg. 41
“They are keen on biting but they only bark at coby.” 2 twins came to school they seem very mean and rude but for some reason they have it in for coby. They got mad that he was spending time with April. Coby and nick definitely have a rivalry with them and I think April is in the middle of it.

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My first impression of the dad is that he is very education focused and strict. I think this because on page 36 it says, “Do me a favor and stop complaining about trying to be excellent.’” Also we know that they didn’t move for their mom to continue her job because there was to major university. This might contribute to why Nick doesn’t like his dad very much along with Nick having to read his dads book all the time.

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“You and Coby have been as tight as a pair of shin guards” (pg.25)

This shows that Coby is a very close friend and is an important person in Nick life. They must be best friends.

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My most thoughtful post so far was from Pg’s 8 & 9. “But when she revealed that we’d have to move to some small town with no university(or travel soccer team) Dad said No with a capital N.”.

It seems to me that Nicks life is surrounded by his dads love of words, and anything to do with soccer. That means Nick’s mom, in order to support them, she can’t do what she loves. It also appears that Nicks dad calls the shots because when he said no, it seems that no one argued back.

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“You absolutely love soccer.” - PG 27

In this sentence Nick is talking about himself. I wonder why Nick, when he is referring to himself, says “you”.
It’s almost like he is talking to himself.
I wonder if Kwame Alexander did this on purpose to show something about Nick.
Maybe he’s trying to say that Nick has a lot of pressure so he kind of lives in his own world by talking to himself?

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“Dad’s back in town which means you’re in his study surrounded by ten-foot walls lined with books.”(p32)
Why doesn’t Nick’s dad see how much he dislikes books. Maybe he does and just chooses to ignore it because he wants Nick to be just like him and love books. Maybe Nick’s dad could be the reason why he hates books so much.

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Pg 41  “…they only bark at Coby”

Why do they only stare Coby down? Does he have a relationship with the principal? Is he known for something? (Added) Does Coby have some, like, fighting skills that we don’t know about? What makes it so that they can bully Nick but not Coby? Maybe Coby is really strong. Maybe he has kicked their but before.

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My most thoughtful post-it said “one of ‘em was in the library talking to April.” (Page 37). Nick likes a girl named April, and when he sees someone, especially one of the twins hitting on her, it makes him upset and willing to do anything for that to stop, because in his perfect world, April is his, even if they’re dating or not. This may lead to a conflict later in the story.

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“It is a metaphor for dealing with a problem when it is still small before it grows into something LARGER, Ms. Hardwick says, looking dead at you.” Nick’s teachers don’t really like him. Why not? Does he act up in class? Not complete his homework?

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On page 15 the author takes the word “Blurs” and blurs it to show what Nick is seeing when he stops daydreaming in class.

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Pg. 17
“Uh… to nip it in the butt is an example of how to get smacked by a girl.”
Is nick a class clown or does he simply just get distracted and if so does anything at home cause that, like his dad’s pressure?
Maybe this will lead to a conflict in the future.

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“our words. Your words,” (on page 36) because of his dads love of words and his job, nick has just hated words and therefore in the text as you read, it doesn’t seem like him  and his dad don’t hav ea great relationship and I think that later on in the story, this will play a big role in the conflict of the story.

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Another thing I’d that he didn’t like it when his dad was back because he had to study a book about words.