Chapter 5 Summary

In this chapter the reader learns how Mrs. Olinski chose her Academic Bowl team. Unlike other teachers in the school, she did not hold contests, nor did she listen to the criticism of other teachers, nor did she agree to her principal's suggestion that she must choose high honors students. Mrs. Olinski did not have reasons for the students whom she chose; it happened suddenly and came from a source other than reason.

Mrs. Olinski chose Noah after reading his essay on the First Amendment, and Nadia and Ethan seemed logical choices soon after. For a while, Mrs. Olinski thought of choosing Hamilton Knapp. Despite his bad behavior toward her, Mrs. Olinski valued his quick thinking and obvious team-building abilities. At the performance of Annie, however, Mrs. Olinski knows that someone in her class had started the disruptive and malicious chanting. When the...