Fall Football
This sport takes over Crown Point High School during the fall season in Chapters 6–8.
What is football?
As football season ends, Josh immediately shifts his focus to preparing for this upcoming spring sport.
What is baseball?
This nickname is given to Josh around school due to his athleticism and charm.
What is "The Golden Boy"?
This literary term describes the sharp contrast between Josh's public "Golden Boy" persona and his dark private behavior.
What is irony?
In baseball, home plate is outlined by a thin rubber border of this color.
What is black?
Josh plays this key offensive position on the school’s football team.
What is quarterback?
Josh pushes Ryan to train specifically for this demanding defensive position.
What is catcher?
When a play goes wrong during a game, Josh typically reacts by showing intensity and doing this to others.
What is placing the blame on his teammates?
Josh's dominant natural athletic abilities are rooted in these three physical attributes.
What are strength, power, and speed?
To literally "paint the black" in baseball means to pitch the ball precisely along this area.
What is the extreme edge of the strike zone / home plate?
During Friday night football games, Ryan’s primary role is sitting here.
What are the stands / bleachers (as a spectator)?
This past physical injury made Ryan hesitant to start training again with Josh.
What is a severe ankle injury?
Over the course of Part 1, the dynamic shifts so that this person takes complete control of the friendship.
Who is Josh?
The central thematic conflict brewing in Part 1 is the tension between high athletic talent and this personal quality.
What is ethics, integrity, or moral character?
Metaphorically, "painting the black" represents living or operating on the extreme edge of these.
What are rules, moral boundaries, and social norms?
Because of his success on the football field, the students and town treat Josh like this.
What is a hero or celebrity?
Catching Josh's pitches is painful and difficult for Ryan primarily because of these two physical pitch qualities.
What are extreme velocity (speed) and heavy movement?
Ryan’s parents support his renewed athletic training, but remain cautious regarding these two priorities.
What are his physical health/recovery and schoolwork?
Ryan's internal struggle over whether to challenge Josh is caused by fear of losing status and feeling this toward Josh.
What is indebtedness (or gratitude for helping him play sports again)?
Pushing boundaries right up to the edge without getting caught makes Josh this type of presence to those around him.
What is dangerous or reckless?
Watching Josh excel on the gridiron inspires this mixed emotional reaction inside Ryan.
What is awe/admiration combined with a revived desire to play sports?
These three adjectives best describe Ryan's attitude and work ethic during winter conditioning.
What are determined, disciplined, and persistent?
Josh serves in this primary role regarding Ryan's athletic comeback in Part 1.
What is an intense motivator / driving force?
The overall tone Carl Deuker builds by the end of Chapter 12 combines anticipation with this underlying feeling.
What is tension or unease?
The phrase "painting the black" serves as a literary device that applies both to baseball and human choices, known as this.
What is a double entendre or extended metaphor?