Jake Drake, Know-It-All

On the weekend before the science fair, Jake and Willie work on their posters and what they will say to the judges. Jake is relieved that, with Willie as a partner, he does not have to be a know-it-all about their project—he can be a “know-about-half” (78). The science fair is on Tuesday. Jake’s and Willie’s fathers help the boys set up their display. Jake is irritated to find that his and Willie’s table is right next to Kevin’s table. Unlike Jake and Willie’s posters, which the two boys created by hand, Kevin’s posters are neat displays full of computer-generated pictures and text, all glued down perfectly flat. Jake’s father congratulates Kevin’s father on the nice display, and when Kevin’s father says, “Thanks. We worked pretty hard on them” (80), Jake realizes that Kevin broke the rules by letting his father help him. When he looks around the room, he realizes that most of the competitors did the same. He wonders whether he should have let his father help him more.

When the judges finally get to Kevin’s table, Jake listens to Kevin explain his project on how ants use their sense of smell to navigate. Jake is impressed by Kevin’s work. When it is Jake and Willie’s turn, Jake is proud of how well Willie does at explaining their experiment to the judges. He notices that the judges seem to enjoy the fact that Willie is genuinely having fun. When it is Jake’s turn to talk, Willie begins demonstrating the first magnet. Then, Willie takes over talking while Jake demonstrates the second magnet. When they finish, Willie gives Jake a big smile, and suddenly, Jake does not care about winning anymore. The two boys spend some time looking at other students’ projects and enjoying learning about things like fossils, fruit flies, and soap bubbles. Jake notices that Marsha looks sad, and he thinks that people like Marsha have a hard time coping when they are not always the best at everything. As Jake looks over the various projects, he is sure that he knows which one will win because it is much better than all the others. When the judges finally announce the winners, it is just as Jake guessed: Pete Morris wins for the third grade, with a project on the impact of light on insect eggs that he has been working on for several months, just for fun. Jake and Willie win second place. Jake is happy with this outcome because he thinks that Pete deserved to win and because he has enjoyed working with Willie and is proud of what they accomplished together.

In the falling action of Chapters 9-11, Jake fixes the problems he created in earlier chapters, resolving the story’s central conflict. Chapter 8’s cliffhanger makes it seem as if Jake is about to quit the science fair entirely. This would be an incomplete and unsatisfying resolution, however, because while it would certainly demonstrate that Jake has overcome the temptation of the Bluntium Twelve and is no longer willing to sacrifice his own integrity in order to pursue the fancy new computer, it would do little to undo the damage that he has already done. Chapter 9, accordingly, begins by making it clear that Jake has found a better solution: He will partner up with Willie and continue to work on his project for the science fair. This solution allows Jake to mend things with Willie—demonstrating The Importance of Loyalty to Friends—and rediscover Learning as Its Own Reward.

In Chapters 9 and 10, Jake mends his relationships with Willie and his father. Willie reacts to Jake’s proposal that they become partners with characteristic cheer. He is not angry or resentful about Jake’s earlier rejection; instead, he is a good friend to Jake and eagerly jumps into the project that Jake has already started, getting “all excited” when Jake tells him about electromagnets (67). When they work together the following Saturday, Willie offers clever ideas and creates an atmosphere of fun that turns Jake’s attitude around. Earlier, Jake had begun to feel burdened by his project, but once Willie is helping him, he realizes how much fun learning about science can be. “I know that it might sound weird,” he says, “but making those electromagnets was really fun” (70). Jake is consciously aware of what a difference Willie makes, and this is what he emphasizes in retelling the story, rather than the particular details of each part of their experiment: “Because […] telling it wouldn’t be as fun as really doing all this stuff with Willie” (75). Now that Jake is not focused on beating Kevin and Marsha and winning the computer, he is better able to understand how his choices impact the people around him, and he also sets about finding a way to include his father in the project without breaking the science fair rules. After asking Jim to look over his and Willie’s work, Jake is pleased at having made his father happy.

In the novel’s final chapter, Jake and Willie finally make it to the science fair. When Jake realizes that other students—including Kevin—have bent the rules to let their parents help them with their projects, he has a brief moment of backsliding. He wonders whether he, too, should have accepted adult help on his project. Significantly, it is when Willie gives him a big smile after the two boys complete their presentation to the judges that Jake suddenly realizes, “[R]ight then, I knew I didn’t care if we won anything or not” (83). The reward of Willie’s happiness and the pride that the two feel about what they have accomplished is enough for Jake. Their positive attitudes are juxtaposed against the attitudes of the know-it-alls, Kevin and Marsha. While Jake expresses interest in and admiration for other students’ projects, Kevin and Marsha are clearly not interested in others’ work and are not having fun at the science fair. While they wait for the judges, Kevin only glances briefly at Jake and Willie’s work instead of expressing any genuine curiosity. He gives them “a put-down smile” that conveys his scorn (80). Later, he watches blankly as they present their work to the judges, and Jake notices his absence of emotion. Marsha actually looks miserable, and Jake realizes that, for know-it-alls like Marsha and Kevin, it is upsetting to not be singled out as the best in every single endeavor. This further develops the novel’s theme of The Importance of Staying Humble, as the two characters who show humility—Jake and Willie—are the ones who are really having fun at the science fair.

Jake’s reaction to not winning the science fair reinforces the importance of humility. Instead of being resentful, Jake is gracious about Pete’s win and forthcoming about what made Pete’s project a great one. Jake again shows his understanding that learning can be its own reward as he explains how Pete worked on his experiment with insect eggs and light over the course of several months—not for the prize but for the love of science. Jake’s reaction shows that he understands that he will not always be the best at everything, and he is fine with this. His closing remarks about keeping the second-place trophy on his shelf where he can see it reinforce this idea. The final chapters of Jake Drake, Know-It-All demonstrate that Jake has returned to the values he began with. He is a nice person who cares about other people and appreciates their strengths. Jake’s happiness at the end of the story conveys The Value of Personal Integrity and makes it clear that he is over being a know-it-all for good.