Summary
Summary of Play the Game!
Play the Game! at a glance
Summary: 8 min to read
- Reading time
- About 3 h 20 min2 h 40 min fast, 4 h slow
- Length
- 48,200 words
- Library level
- Easy short sentences, plain words
- First published
- 1921by Ruth Comfort Mitchell
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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Key ideas
Key idea 1
Honor chooses the friend who needs her
At thirteen, Honor Carmody wants to stay near Jimsy King, the boy next door. He needs help with English and Latin so he can play football, and she does not want to leave for a girls school. Her mother thinks a daughter should be dainty; her stepfather, Stephen Lorimer, believes girls should run with boys, not after them.
When Jimsy’s father arrives unsteadily, her mother fears his family’s bad blood. Honor chooses friendship over the place where she would be safest.
Key idea 2
Carter brings kindness with a hidden want
Carter Van Meter moves across the street with his wealthy mother.
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Key idea 3
Jimsy plays fairly under pressure
Before the rainy championship game, Jimsy comes to Honor exhausted by his father’s drunken return the night before.
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Key idea 4
Distance gives Carter room to interfere
Honor studies singing in Florence while Jimsy is at Stanford.
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Key idea 5
Honor seeks the truth about Jimsy
Jimsy is drawn briefly into a student protest at Stanford.
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Key idea 6
The siege turns trust into a test
At El Pozo, Honor finds Jimsy clean and steady beside the old well.
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Key idea 7
Loyalty is a choice not a chain
Holding on gives the relationships their meaning, but Honor’s loyalty is not a promise to ignore whatever Jimsy becomes.
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Key idea 8
Character matters more than family history
Stephen rejects the belief that Jimsy must repeat his father’s life.
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Key idea 9
Familiar objects carry the weight of loyalty
From childhood football and Sunday suppers to thirst and gunfire in Mexico, Honor and Jimsy’s bond faces changing pressures.
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Who it’s for
You will love this book if you enjoy old-fashioned romance, football and school spirit, warm family comedy, and a heroine with a loyal heart.
What this book is
What does a girl do when the boy she loves is told every day that his blood is bad? Honor Carmody, a sturdy and cheerful Los Angeles girl, answers by holding on tight.
Play the Game! was written by Ruth Comfort Mitchell. A poem about cricket gives the story its creed: play up and play fair. You follow Honor and Jimsy King from childhood to a night in Mexico where their loyalty is tested.
In this summary
- 1Honor chooses to run with the boysFree
- 2Jimsy King carries the weight of his name
- 3A clever stranger limps into the street
- 4The rainy championship game shows what Jimsy is
- 5A ring and a promise to wait
- 6Two years apart, and a poison in the letters
- 7Jimsy is expelled and Honor goes to find him
- 8At El Pozo the friends face the siege
- 9Holding on is the book's idea of love
- 10Blood against character, and the envy of the clever
- 11How the story sings, plays and keeps its hope
Key point 1 of 11
Honor chooses to run with the boys
Honor Carmody likes boys, and she says so without shame. At thirteen she begs her mother not to send her to a famous girls school. Her real reason is the boy next door, Jimsy King, who needs her help with his English and Latin so he can play football.
Her mother is gentle and sure that a daughter should be dainty. Her stepfather, Stephen Lorimer, a newspaper drama critic, sees it differently. He says girls today should run with the boys, not after them.
Then Jimsy's father walks unsteadily up the path, and the neighbors call his family the Wild Kings. Her mother fears bad blood, but Stephen says forbidding the friendship will only make it romantic.
Honor picks the friend who needs her over the place where she would be safest.
That’s 1 of 11 key points.
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Check yourself
Why does Honor’s loyalty differ from blind devotion?
Right. “Honor does not promise to marry Jimsy no matter what.”Not quite. “Honor does not promise to marry Jimsy no matter what.”
How does Carter threaten Honor and Jimsy’s relationship?
Right. “He hides his hunger under good manners until it becomes a plan to make Jimsy fall.”Not quite. “He hides his hunger under good manners until it becomes a plan to make Jimsy fall.”
What belief does Honor’s faith in Jimsy resist?
Right. “Honor's faith matters because it refuses to treat a boy as the sum of his ancestors.”Not quite. “Honor's faith matters because it refuses to treat a boy as the sum of his ancestors.”
Go deeper: the whole of Play the Game!
About 3 h 30 min to read.Start freePaperback, hardcover and large print, printed for you at cost, are on their way.Email me when it is printed
Questions about Play the Game!
What is Play the Game! about?
It follows Honor Carmody and Jimsy King, childhood friends in Los Angeles who fall in love. Honor must hold to her faith in Jimsy despite his family's reputation for drink and a rival who works to part them.
Who are the Wild Kings?
The Wild Kings are Jimsy's family, long known in Los Angeles for gambling and heavy drinking. Neighbors expect Jimsy to follow his father, and Honor refuses to believe he will.
Where does the title Play the Game! come from?
Its source is an English poem by Henry Newbolt that Honor's stepfather recites. Its refrain, Play up! Play up! and Play the Game!, becomes the book's creed of courage and fair play.
What is the ring with the clasped hands?
It is an old Italian family ring that Jimsy's father gives his son for Honor. Two clasped hands hide a blue sapphire, which stands for constancy, and the ring is a symbol of holding on.
Is Play the Game! easy to read?
Yes, in the sense that matters. The story moves through short scenes, lively talk, school cheers and songs, and humor from Honor's family, so the plot stays clear and the people are easy to follow.
Cite this edition
Mitchell, Ruth Comfort. Play the Game! Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/play-the-game.
Mitchell, R. C. (2026). Play the game! Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/play-the-game (Original work published 1921)
Mitchell, Ruth Comfort. Play the Game! Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/play-the-game.
@book{mitchell2026play,
author = {Mitchell, Ruth Comfort},
title = {Play the Game!},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/play-the-game},
note = {First published 1921}
}
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