96 pages • 3 hours read
Matthew QuickBoy21
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2012A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 21–25Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 21 Summary
Like every other year, Finley is the first student to show up to practice. Wes shows up shortly thereafter, pretending to read Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man; he is actually reading Harry Potter. The other players trickle in, and Coach is late, for the first time ever. Terrell hassles Finley, and then turns his attention to Wes’s book. Wes lies, claiming they are reading Harry Potter for class, and Finley backs him up without hesitation. Coach shows up with Boy21, whom Finley tries to ignore, but “Boy21’s presence feels heavy now, like it could slow me down” (108).
Russ looks very nervous, which annoys Finley. Coach talks about the team in terms of a family, which helps focus Finley, butBoy21 practices terribly, which again distracts Finley,and Coach yells at him to focus. The other players get annoyed because Russ is playing so badly. Finley sees Erin in the stands, silently rooting for him.
After practice, Coach calls Russ and Finley into his office to ask why Finley hasn’t been encouraging Russ to play basketball. Russ has told Coach that he knows Finley doesn’t want him to play, and that Russ doesn’t want to ruin Finley’s senior year, which Coach has mistaken for Finley telling Russ not to play. Coach apologizes to Finley, and Finley is amazed at Russ’s proffered sacrifice. Coach lets the two talk alone, and Finley gives Russ his number 21 jersey, promising to be his friend even if Russ uses his “extraterrestrial powers” to play (115).
Russ leaves, and Coach tells Finley he’s a good kid, but Finley is worried about Russ’s psychological stability. Finley and Russ go to the library and check out two Harry Potter books, returning to read in the bleachers before the next practice. Boy21 picks up his game a little, but Finley knows he’s not playing to the best of his abilities.
Chapter 22 Summary
Wes and Boy21 talk about Harry Potter, and Boy21 alludes to his own “[r]eal magical powers” (120), which confuses Wes. Wes, Russ, and Finley go over to Wes’s house to watch Harry Potter and listen to N.E.R.D. Wes and Russ play an outer space video game, and Wes suggests they form a Harry Potter book and film club.
On the walk home, Russ differentiates between “real outer space” and the “pretend outer space” of N.E.R.D. (122), although he does acknowledge that the group is correct in asserting that death is not real because “[m]atter cannot be destroyed nor created” (122). Finley feels like Russ is losing his grip on reality, and that he cannot help him.
Chapter 23 Summary
Coach names Finley and Terrell captains of the basketball team, and Finley gets the position of starting point guard. Finley is happy playing basketball and time flies by, but he realizes that Boy21 still isn’t playing to the full extent of his abilities, “like he’s afraid to show the world what he can really do” (126). Their team wins the first game, though, making Finley’s father and grandfather proud.
Chapter 24 Summary
In preparation for the annual boy-girl doubleheader against archrival Pennsville, Coach explains that Pennsville plans to block Terrell from taking shots. He suggests having Finley make shots, but Finley’s game has been off recently and Finley misses many of his shots. His teammates offer encouragement, as does Coach, who also says that “we haven’t seen the real Russ play ball yet’ (129). Russ intercepts Finley, asking if they can go up on Finley’s roof that night. Finley tries to use homework as an excuse not to, but Russ suggests they do their homework together. Finley again decides that Russ has been intentionally playing badly.
Chapter 25 Summary
Finley’s dad and grandfather talk with Finley and Russ about the Pennsville game over freezer pizza. Finley is moody and quiet the whole time. Finley and Russ do homework, and then go sit outside on the roof. Russ asks Finley if he can use his “extraterrestrial powers” (132), but Finley is not in the mood. He is glad when Russ leaves but very worried about the game the next day, “missing open jumpers, even in my mind” (133).
Chapters 21–25 Analysis
These chapters explore the complicated nature of friendship. Finley demonstrates some character growth, as he willingly goes out of his way to help Wes and to build interpersonal relationshipsamong Wes, Russ, and himself. However, Finley has not entirely changed: he begins to feel burdened by other relationships, especially his relationship with Russ. Even though Finley recognizes Russ’s sacrifice and in turn sacrifices his own jersey number for Russ’s mental health, Finley tries to use basketball as an escape from such interpersonal relationships. Whenever anything gets difficult or complicated, Finley turns to basketball to prevent his brain from thinking and his anxiety from building. The reader begins to understand that this form of escapism is not healthy for Finley, and these chapters foreshadow his future inability to use basketball as a form of escape.
Because Finley does not allow Russ to play basketball, an integral part of Russ’s identity, Russ must use his own form of escapism: outer space. Russ becomes increasingly obsessed with talking about the cosmos when he is around Wes and Finley, attempting to share this form of escapism with them. Despite Finley’s unwillingness to engage with Russ in these conversations, Russ becomes more and more involved in speaking to Finley about the cosmos, refraining from letting his identity as a basketball prodigy shine.
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