Game Changer

Pages 3-69

Reading Check

1. They assume that Teddy’s head injury is an accident caused by a hard hit during the freshman scrimmage game on the last day of football camp. (Page 7)

2. The website is to give students a chance to provide uplifting and inspirational messages to support Teddy as he recovers. (Pages 16; 46-48)

3. He reveals that Teddy collapsed not after he was tackled but rather after he got up and tried to walk off the field. (Page 31)

Short Answer

1. The newspaper article that begins the novel reveals how the small town finds not only a source of revenue from the Friday night games but also a sense of community pride. The town’s team, under the current head coach, has developed a reputation for commitment and dedication. (Various pages)

2. Teddy’s mother felt that her commitment to her family came at the cost of her dream of being an artist. She did not want her children to see her unhappy. She was determined to find out who she is, and she could not do that and also stay in the family. (Pages 20-21)

3. At the heart of Ethan’s decision to tackle Teddy is his fear that he is not living up to the football team’s definition of a man. The football camp cliché that runs through Teddy’s head reveals the camp’s philosophy of making the boys more aggressive and more committed to hard hits. (Pages 4-5)

4. The postings of the mysterious Clea suggest that the accident may not have been an accident—that the late hit on Teddy might have been deliberate. (Page 57)

Pages 70-131

Reading Check

1. Will whispers to Teddy that Ethan is going to talk and that the team is going to stay united. (Page 90)

2. The therapist is the first to raise the question of hazing, or the possibility that the hit was not an accident. (Page 109)

3. Teddy has an emotional reaction when Alec tells him that the truth about the hit is going to come out. (Page 120)

Short Answer

1. The coach, aware of Teddy’s parents in the room, offers only the usual clichés about football: how the program helps boys become men, helps develop their pride, and helps develop their commitment and dedication. He ignores the implications of (and his responsibility for) Teddy’s coma. (Pages 78-80)

2. The story that she tells Teddy is more a confession than a conversation. She relates the story of the morning she decided to leave because she felt time was running out for her to pursue painting. The only way she could save being a mother was to leave, if temporarily. (Pages 113-114)

3. Teddy’s memories, fragmentary though they are, suggest that what he remembers are the character-building motivational clichés about working hard to achieve a goal, the value of the team, and the commitment to make the best efforts better. He seems to remember nothing threatening or dangerous. (Pages 110-122)

Pages 132-203

Reading Check

1. Ethan reveals to the therapist that he is thinking of quitting football. (Pages 141-142)

2. The arrival of police detectives convinces Teddy’s mother that something more than an accident hurt her son. (Pages 147-149)

3. When questions begin to arise about why Ethan is acting so peculiarly and the poster known only as Clea begins suggesting that the injury was not an accident, Camille takes the site down. (Page 203)

Short Answer

1. Janey senses the threat of the football players, who are there to quietly encourage Teddy to stay quiet about the scrimmage injury. (Page 200)

2. Teddy’s father, a former football player, is reluctant to see the sport as anything but beneficial and believes the coach. He pushed Teddy into the sport and clings to the belief that his son’s coma is due to an unfortunate accident. (Pages 147-149)

3. The therapist reassures Ethan that whatever is burdening his cannot be resolved by ignoring it. He tells Ethan that if he was forced into doing something, he is not entirely responsible but needs to come forward. (Pages 174-176)

Pages 204-252

Reading Check

1. The therapist tells Ethan that he only needs to be honest. (Page 210)

2. Ethan begins by saying he wants to help heal the family. (Page 232)

3. Ethan is responsible for the hit. (Page 246)

Short Answer

1. They argue about moving Teddy to a different hospital. Sarah is sure the doctors at the current hospital are not attending to Teddy with sufficient concern and that specialists in another regional facility might be better equipped to help him. Teddy’s father dismisses her concerns as an effort to finally be a good parent after abandoning the family. (Pages 223-225)

2. Ethan feels wimpy. Because of a shoulder injury the first day, he cannot hit as hard as the team wants the freshmen to hit. He watches his far more gifted friend, Teddy, emerge as one of the most promising freshmen. (Pages 240-241)

3. The Hit Parade is an opportunity to encourage freshmen to announce their presence and set their future with the team by hitting hard on every play. The team puts up a prize for the freshman who hits the hardest as an incentive. (Pages 246-248)

Pages 253-286

Reading Check

1. Teddy’s mother dismisses Ethan’s confession as his way of avoiding responsibility for the late hit by blaming Teddy himself. (Page 259)

2. The family huddles together and, holding hands (including Teddy’s), they pray. (Page 273)

3. He says, “I remember.” (Page 285)

Short Answer

1. Ethan says his motivation for the late hit on Teddy was, at least in part, that Teddy had joined in with the other freshmen in taunting Ethan for his weak play. Teddy’s mother sees that explanation as a roundabout way of blaming Teddy, the victim, for Ethan’s decision to tackle him. (Page 260)

2. The team, in the person of the captain, shows disregard for the suspension. They vow to continue their practice sessions on their own away from the school. Unaware of the insensitivity they are showing to Teddy and his family, they believe that keeping the program going will show their pride and their commitment. (Page 286)

3. Although the novel does not reveal what actions the school might take against the coach and the program, the newspaper article that closes the novel indicates that the school board has launched an investigation. In this way, Teddy serves as a game changer. His injury will change the program and the town. The injury was completely unnecessary, motivated by a dangerous code of machismo, and protected by the misguided efforts of a school to protect a program at the expense of accountability. His experience will compel the town to revisit their assumptions about the program and its winning-is-everything culture. (Various pages)