Game Changer

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Pages 3-69

Reading Check

1. Initially, what do the doctors believe happened to Teddy Youngblood?

2. What is the purpose of the website that Camille, the coach’s daughter, sets up?

3. What does Teddy’s friend Ethan Metzger reveal to the therapist that causes concern?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is the football program important to the tiny town of Walthorne?

2. Why did Teddy’s parents separate?

3. In the passages from Teddy’s viewpoint, the phrase “Show me you can hit somebody” repeats. Why is that phrase important?

4. How does the website contribute to the mystery over Teddy’s injury?

Paired Resource

“What’s the Likelihood a High School Football Player Will Get Injured?”

• This article from Healthline provides general information about high school football injuries as well as tips for prevention.
• How is high school football different from other high school athletic activities?

Pages 70-131

Reading Check

1. What does the senior football player whisper into Teddy’s ear at the hospital?

2. What does the therapist reveal to Ethan during their session?

3. What causes Teddy’s momentary reaction in the hospital room?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does the coach act during his visit to the hospital room?

2. How does Ethan’s mother explain her decision to leave their family?

3. How does Teddy remember football camp?

Paired Resource

“10 Things You Didn't Know About Guilt”

• This Psychology Today article explains the positive and negative aspects of guilty feelings.
• Ethan and Alec struggle with Handling the Burden of Guilt over what they did and did not do for Teddy. How do they deal with the guilt they feel over their friend’s injury?

Pages 132-203

Reading Check

1. What does Ethan admit to his therapist?

2. What convinces Teddy’s mother than Teddy should never return to football?

3. What happens to the website devoted to Teddy’s recovery?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Janey kick the football team players out of Teddy’s hospital room?

2. Why does Teddy’s father refuse to believe the accident was deliberate?

3. Why does Ethan decide to admit what he did?

Paired Resources

“Why Sports Can Be So Toxic to Boys and How We Unravel That Culture”

• This opinion article from CNN speaks to how football inculcates violence and a sense of privilege in young boys. (Teacher-facing; not student-appropriate)

Pages 204-252

Reading Check

1. What advice does the therapist give to the troubled Ethan?

2. Why does Ethan’s mother say her son has come to Teddy’s hospital room?

3. Who delivered the tackle to Teddy that put him in the hospital?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why do Teddy’s parents argue in the hospital room?

2. Why does Ethan feel isolated at camp?

3. Why does the team have the Hit Parade?

Paired Resource

“Hazing vs. Team Building”

• A survey article by the sports foundation inCourage that compares hazing across high school sports and explores motivations for hazing
• How can hazing be perceived as a team-building exercise? What is the difference between hazing and true team building? How might The Power and Influence of Groupthink prevent hazing from being addressed and stopped?

Pages 253-286

Reading Check

1. How does Sarah react to Ethan’s confession?

2. What does Teddy’s family do after listening to Ethan’s confession in the hospital room?

3. What are the first words that Teddy says when he comes out of his coma?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Teddy’s mother refuse to forgive Ethan?

2. What does Will’s reaction to the suspension of the football program reveal?

3. In what way has Teddy become a game changer?

Recommended Next Reads

Raiders Night by Robert Lipsyte

• A YA novel in which a successful small-town high school football program becomes a source of controversy after hazing incidents circulate
• Shared topics include high school football, athletes, and hazing.
• Shared themes include The Definition of Manhood and The Power and Influence of Groupthink.
• Raiders Night on SuperSummary

Rivals by Tommy Greenwald

• A companion novel to Game Changer, set in the same middle school, that looks at two blue-chip middle school basketball players at rival schools and how they handle the pressure when a school reporter exposes one of the team’s brutal training practice sessions
• Shared topics include school athletics and team loyalty.
• Shared themes include The Definition of Manhood and The Power and Influence of Groupthink.