Pg.

87

The reporter is trying to check Philip's facts. The head of the school district has no idea of what's going
on though. I'm not sure if she's lying that she doesn't know about the rule or not, because she probably
doesn't want to look bad on the news. She also wants to know who told her that, so she could talk to
the person herself.

Pg. 88

The reporter still got something out of this conversation, since she said "May I quote you?". This is
foreshadowing the head of the school being in the newspaper. Jennifer Stewart is still trying to find out
more about this rule, since she's contacting the principal.

Pg. 89

There is a miscommunication or held back information. Dr. Doane never found out about a suspension,
and she’s the principal. She referred to Dr. Palleni so that he would get called instead, since she had no
idea about the suspension. I wonder why student discipline is confidential.

Pg. 90

Ms. Stewart can’t figure out what’s going on. The district has no singing rule, and the principal also says
that there is no singing rule. Now, Ms. Stewart is going to call Dr. Palleni. Maybe she’ll learn more about
this rule by calling him. Ms. Stewart uses the word “claim” a lot.

Pg. 91

Philip is excited about switching homerooms. I doubt that his situation will get much better. He can still
make trouble in another homeroom, and the teacher might not condone his singing. Philip didn't get the
English class switch, though, so he probably won't get on the track team. He isn't confident about
switching English classes.

Pg. 92

Dr. Palleni hesitates before he decides how to tell the reporter about Philip’s suspension. Jennifer
Stewart is having a hard time with finding out about this singing rule. Dr. Palleni tries to send Ms.
Stewart to someone else. I doubt that any school administrator will admit to this rule. Ms. Stewart still
wants someone to say that the rule is existent though.

Pg. 93

Dr. Palleni started to raise his voice. He can tell that the reporter is going to make him look bad if he
makes any comments. Ms. Stewart wants an interesting story, so she is putting pressure on him to say
that there is a rule about singing the national anthem. I think that Dr. Palleni is being clever, so he
doesn't look bad in the newspaper.

Pg. 94

Ms. Narwin doesn't think about a kid's suspension 24/7. That's why she doesn't remember the story
right away. Ms. Narwin had the same initial response as Dr. Palleni. Philip started calling the national
anthem singing a question of patriotism, when he was just trying to get on people's nerves.
Pg. 95

Ms. Stewart thinks that Ms. Narwin made up a no singing rule in her head. Ms. Stewart is going to write
about how patriotic Ms. Narwin is. Ms. Narwin uses the same term that Dr. Palleni uses: creating a
disturbance.

Pg. 96

Dr. Doane actually had no idea about the suspension. She believes that someone shouldn't be
suspended for singing the national anthem. Dr. Palleni uses "disturbance" instead so that Dr. Doane isn't
upset. Dr. Palleni even said that the problem wasn't singing the national anthem. I think that Dr. Palleni
knows that the rule is stupid, so he says that Philip broke a different rule.

Pg. 97

Another problem was that Philip refused to apologize. Philip feels too confident to apologize, thanks to
his dad. Dr. Doane knows that being rude to a reporter could result in looking bad in a newspaper. Dr.
Doane wants to be referred to so that a bad impression isn't left on a reporter again.

Pg. 98

Mentioning the newspaper and talking to a reporter is foreshadowing a story about Philip. Philip had
become accustomed to a lot more excitement happening, with arguments with Ms. Narwin and the
principal, and an interview. This made a normal day seeming boring to Philip. Philip is going to cooperate
because he is desperate to get on the track team.

Pg. 99

I was right about the reporter making someone look bad, since news tends to be negative. Philip must
love this story. It makes the one person that he doesn't like, Ms. Narwin, look terrible. The school is not
going to like this article. I think that it's unfair to treat Ms. Narwin like this. Dr. Palleni left a bad
impression on Ms. Stewart.

Pg. 100

This article is going to hurt any chances of getting a better school budget. The Manchester Record left in
a good word for itself by mentioning that this "patriot" delivers their papers. I'm surprised that Dr.
Doane couldn't guess that this was going to happen after he was interviewed by a reporter.

Pg. 101

Dr. Seymour couldn't guess that this would happen either. Now, they're trying to find out who to blame
for this article. Luckily, Ms. Narwin had a good reputation around the school, so she wasn't going to be
fired. Dr. Doane and Dr. Seymour are worried, because they need school funding.

Pg. 102

I wonder why the author chose April Fool's Day for this article. Philip wasn't excited about being in the
paper. He just wanted to stay out of trouble with his parents.

Pg. 103
Now, Philip's dad is even more confident in Philip after reading the newspaper article. I think that Mr.
Malloy should have checked with the teacher right after he listened to Philip’s stories. Mr. Malloy is
incredibly gullible. Mrs. Malloy thinks that there is something wrong with the article. Mr. Malloy
repeated his statement about sticking up for yourself, which is the reason that Philip got himself
suspended.

Pg. 104

Mrs. Malloy realized that Philip isn’t enjoying this as much as Mr. Malloy. Ted Griffen successfully got
more votes, just like he wanted to by listening to kid’s complaints about school. This is the first time Ms.
Narwin called her sister. That must mean that Ms. Narwin is really upset. This is more temptation for
Ms. Narwin to retire.

Pg. 105

Ted Griffen doesn’t want to spend money on computers. He thinks that mentioning the news article will
help him get his points across. I don’t like Mr. Griffen. Just like most politicians, he is always worried
about what he can get out of a conversation. For example, he tried to get in quotes during Philip’s
interview. He didn’t help Philip because he cared. Philip is putting a lot of blame on Ms. Narwin, just like
the news reporter did. Philip is starting to mention track more often. He is probably going to try to get
on the track team. Philip doesn’t like the restrictions that his parents put on him.

Pg. 106

Philip Malloy’s story is gaining publicity quickly. Its fame is reaching the national level. The newspaper
still believes that the suspension is just Ms. Narwin’s fault and this problem is about patriotism. This talk
show tends to focus on crazy stuff happening in schools.

Pg. 107

Jake Barlow believes that this problem is about patriotism too. He enjoys making fun of different
scenarios. He makes sure to put any blame for incorrect facts on the news by mentioning that he’s just
reading papers. Harrison, New Hampshire isn’t a well-known city, and incidents like this are probably
rare.