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Synopsis
Mick Sullivan likes reading thrillers, daydreaming about Tabitha Slater, and teasing his archenemy, Boot Quinn.
Boot Quinn likes playing his guitar, daydreaming about Tabitha Slater, and punching his adversary, Mick Sullivan.
The two eighth graders are rivals in every way, and with two fights in the first week of school, they've set the stage for a yearlong showdown. That is, until a new principal arrives on the scene and forces Mick and Boot to spend an hour and a half each day playing games together. Two enemies, one small room, and no adult supervision-battle lines are bound to be crossed.
As the wins and losses are tallied, the boys find themselves fighting for their classmates' attention, a cute girl's affection, and their own fathers' respect.
But how far are they willing to go to win? And who are they really fighting?
There's only one way to find out.
Game on.
KLIATT
Forced to play games with your foe until you can learn to get along: what kind of punishment is that? There's nothing 8th-grade archenemies Boot and Mick enjoy more than taunting and then socking each other, but the new principal at their middle school is determined to change their behavior and so devises this unusual sentence. In alternating chapters, the two boys tell their stories. Both have difficult home lives; smart aleck Mick finds solace in reading, despite his alcoholic father, while tough guy Boot, who loves playing guitar, tries to avoid his physically abusive dad. Both boys have a crush on pretty, manipulative Tabitha, who eggs them on in their rivalry as it escalates to dangerous dares—and takes bets on the outcome, they discover. The boys do bond eventually, of course, and when Boot runs away, Mick is the only one who knows where to find him and what to do. While their reconciliation is predictable, readers, especially boys, will enjoy getting to know the sympathetic protagonists. Gorman, the author of Dork in Disguise and other books for younger YAs, tells the tale with humor and flair. The ending provides drama as Mick and Boot discover which wars are worth waging, but a message about informing a responsible adult about the beatings Boot has endured would have been appropriate.