فصل بیست و نهم

chapter-29

On the fourth day of the competition, however, Kyle and his teammates didn’t fare so well.

They lost the Bendable Bookworm medal to the Northeast team after a fierce game of Dewey Decimal Twister. The girl from Rhode Island, Cheryl Space, was extremely flexible.

The Mid-Atlantic team, led by a skinny kid from Maryland named Elliott Schilpp, who could do some serious damage to a plate of food, scored the Eating It Up medal for reading while eating.

In that game, played in the Book Nook Café, each team had to eat pizza while reading a Newbery Honor book from way back in the 1960s that none of the players had ever read before. When the pizza was gone, they had to answer a whole series of comprehension questions. The Mid-Atlantic gang devoured their pepperoni pies the fastest and then nailed every single question about When Shlemiel Went to Warsaw and Other Stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer.

Kyle congratulated the kids from Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and Pennsylvania.

“Thanks,” they said, burping up pizza gas.

On the bookmobile ride back to the Olympia Village motel, Kyle realized that, at the end of the fourth day and eighth game, there were only two days and four games left.

Marjory Muldauer and the Midwest team hadn’t picked up any new medals on day four, either, so Team Kyle was still in the lead.

The Hometown Heroes had three medals.

The Midwest team, starring Marjory Muldauer, had two.

The Pacific, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast teams each had one.

“You guys?” said Kyle after doing the mental math. “We only need to win two more medals and we’re the champions!” Once again, Miguel started chanting that old song by Queen, “We Are the Champions.” Akimi joined in. Sierra, too.

Then the teammates belted out the chorus in four-part harmony.

“We are the champions, my friend!”

Kyle grinned.

He was definitely looking forward to his next cake day.