Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics

During his research, Kyle learns about pterodactyl wings and how the creatures flew. He also learns that they ate meat and fish. While he is reading, several other teams enter to do their own research. Kyle’s team meets Angus Harper from the Southwest team. He congratulates Akimi on her impressive glider flight in the first competition of the day. Angus mentions that his father is a pilot who has been giving Angus flying lessons since Angus was six years old. Intimidated by Angus’s experience, Kyle asks Sierra about the plot of another book she has read, Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment, in which several young people are able to fly. She tells him that the characters could only fly because of a genetic mutation, and he jokes, “Guess we don’t really have time for that” (119). At four o’clock, Kyle and the other flyers take their places. Dr. Zinchenko explains how to fly their pterodactyls, mentioning that faster flight will use up more energy; they will have to carefully balance their speed with their pterodactyl's energy levels, or they may run out of energy and crash.

Kyle skillfully maneuvers his pterodactyl around obstacles that cause several other teams to crash. He finds that Angus and another racer, Abia Sulayman, are his main competition. As he soars across a sea toward the volcano that is the race’s finish line, he flaps his arms faster to speed up his pterodactyl. This causes its energy meter to dip. A giant pterodactyl eats another flier, and one more crashes, leaving only Kyle, Abia, and Angus flying. The other two begin flapping their arms furiously, but Kyle realizes that there is no way to make it to the volcano without running out of energy. He remembers reading about what pterodactyls eat and flies down to the ocean surface, looking for fish. He successfully gobbles one up, sending his energy meter soaring. Abia runs out of energy and crashes. Angus, running out of energy, slows down, and Kyle passes him, winning the race. Mr. Lemoncello awards his team the “Olympian Researcher” medal.

A disgruntled Marjory watches Kyle’s elated team board their recreational vehicle. She tells her team that Kyle is just good at video games but that he does not know anything about the Dewey decimal system. “That’s why I beat him in the book reshelving game” (128), she says, and a teammate has to remind her that they all worked together to win that game. When she returns to the motel, she calms herself by reorganizing the motel’s brochure rack. Andrew admires her organizational plan, and the two bond further over their shared love of traditional libraries. Susana enters and takes Marjory aside for a private conversation. She explains that she has a plan to get Mr. Lemoncello to give up on his library, but she needs Marjory’s help to get a particular book out of the library while it is off-limits to the public. She offers Marjory a “Go to College Free” card in exchange.

When Dr. Zinchenko announces that the next games will be focused on books, Kyle feels sure that Sierra will lead them to victory. The competitors are all given smartphones so that they can access Lemoncello’s site and join an online quiz game. Zinchenko gives clues from the plots of various books, and the teams race to name the books. When Marjory realizes that the Ohio team is collaborating on their answers, she protests. Lemoncello says that from now on, it will be against the rules to collaborate; each player will have to answer on their own. Without Sierra to help, Kyle struggles to answer accurately and quickly, lowering his team’s average. The answer to the final question is Gregor the Overlander, a book Kyle has recently read, and he answers with confidence. Unfortunately, Sierra misses this question, and the Midwest team wins.

Sierra is upset, but her team assures her that their loss was not her fault. Zinchenko asks each team to choose one player to enter the Children’s Room to view a parade of costumed characters and props and deduce which book each assemblage represents. Sierra is nervous when the team chooses her because she does not want to lose them another medal, but the team has complete confidence in her. As the characters and props move through the Rotunda and into the Children’s Room, Kyle is confused at the apparently random parade. Sierra is pleased, however, and she tells him that the task will be easy for her. When it is her turn to enter the Children’s Room, she quickly makes a list of the correct titles and earns the team the “I Did It!” medal.

Kyle’s team loses the seventh and eighth games: The Northeast team wins the “Bendable Bookworm” medal in a game of Dewey Decimal Twister, and the Mid-Atlantic team wins the “Eating It Up” medal in a game that involves reading and eating at the same time. Kyle is a gracious loser, making sure to congratulate the winners. He knows that his team is still in the lead, with three medals. Marjory’s Midwest team has two medals, and three other teams have one each. Kyle points out to his team that just two more medals will secure the win for them. They jubilantly sing “We Are the Champions” on the ride back to the motel.

Back at the motel, Marjory and Andrew discuss their mutual distaste for the unserious nature of Lemoncello’s games. Marjory tells Andrew not to worry, that she and others are working to stop Lemoncello. He asks her what she means, but she does not trust him enough to answer. She tells him that Susana says Lemoncello only started the library as a publicity stunt for his game company, but Andrew says Lemoncello told the children in the first contest that he started the library to honor Gail Tobin, a librarian who helped him in his childhood. Marjory scoffs at his credulity and assures him that Lemoncello will soon be gone. She goes into the lobby, looking for something to drink, but her search is interrupted by an announcement from Lemoncello calling all the players to the motel pool. Marjory is irritated at Lemoncello’s unpredictability, and she feels relieved that soon Susana and the League of Concerned Library Lovers will be in control of the library. She resolves to remove the book Susana requested from the library the very next day.

Mr. Lemoncello and Dr. Zinchenko greet the contestants poolside, where a huge movie screen is inflated. They explain that the next game will be mathematically-inspired rebus puzzles. The winning team will be the first to solve two of the puzzles. Images are projected onto the screen, and Marjory solves the first one just before Kyle gets the answer. She is pleased. Now that she is about to get a “Go to College Free” card from Susana, she does not need to win the games to get a college scholarship anymore—but she very much wants to defeat Kyle Keeley.

Kyle feels panicky at the prospect of losing the game to the Midwest team because this would tie them at three medals each. Zinchenko reads the next question, which asks for the name of a book that the Roman emperor Caligula tried to ban. As Kyle begins trying to decode the rebus that answers the question, Sierra repeatedly tries to get his attention, saying that she knows the answer. Kyle remembers a game he played against his mother during his pre-Olympics losing streak: He lost the game because he trusted someone else’s answer. He blurts out a comically incorrect answer, and Marjory swoops in with the correct one, earning the Midwest team the “Rebus” medal.

Over breakfast, Kyle apologizes to Miguel for his behavior at the previous evening’s game. Miguel tells him that Sierra is the one he should be apologizing to, and Kyle agrees. Kyle expresses his fear that if they do not win the Olympics people will mock them and say they just got lucky in the previous contest at the library. Miguel tries to get Kyle to see that teamwork and integrity are more important than winning, but Kyle is fixated on winning. He points out that Miguel is the only team member who has not won a medal and suggests that Miguel “step it up a little” (157). Akimi and Sierra join them. Akimi mentions that Marjory has won every one of the Midwest team’s medals and is their only serious competition. “Especially if Kyle keeps hogging the ball and missing his shots,” she adds (158). Kyle apologizes to Sierra and agrees to trust her next time she says she knows an answer. When Akimi wonders aloud where Marjory is, Andrew, passing by to collect trash from the tables, says that she went to the library early to do some studying. They ask what she is trying to accomplish there, and Andrew asks if he looks like he can read minds. Kyle says no, he looks like a garbage collector. His team is shocked at his meanness and asks what is wrong with him. Kyle apologizes to Andrew. He says that he is on edge and really wants to win today’s game.