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Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Honor Carmody wants to stay beside her closest friend. Her mother wants to send her somewhere else.
In Ruth Comfort Mitchell’s Play the Game!, Honor faces a school choice she cannot bear. Her mother, Mildred Lorimer, favors Marlborough, a school for girls. Honor wants L.A. High, where Jimsy King is going. She plans to help with his English and Latin so he can keep playing football. To Honor, being needed is reason enough.
At home on South Figueroa Street, Honor finds an ally in her stepfather, Stephen Lorimer. She calls him Stepper; he meets family friction with humor and affection. Mildred wants her daughter to spend more time with girls. Their disagreement brings larger questions close: what does loyalty ask of us, and when should love guide a choice?
What you’ll discover
- A girl with convictions Meet Honor, whose frank questions turn a family discussion into a contest of wills.
- Friendship with a purpose Honor’s plans for Jimsy bring schoolwork, football, and devotion into the same small argument.
- An unexpected family ally Stephen’s playful bond with Honor gives their crowded household warmth and a lively spark.
- Love beside duty Explore the pull between caring for someone and deciding what that care should demand.
- Questions of quiet courage Consider what it means to stay true when loyalty carries a cost.
Who will love it
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’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Honor chooses the friend who needs her
- Carter brings kindness with a hidden want
- Jimsy plays fairly under pressure
- Distance gives Carter room to interfere
- Honor seeks the truth about Jimsy
- The siege turns trust into a test
- Loyalty is a choice not a chain
- Character matters more than family history
- Familiar objects carry the weight of loyalty
Who’s who
- Honor CarmodyA sturdy, cheerful, selfless girl who prefers the company of boys and wants to stand by Jimsy King through everything.
- Jimsy KingThe modest football captain and last of the Wild Kings, who wants to prove his name does not decide his life.
- Stephen LorimerHonor's stepfather, a witty drama critic who champions the young couple and believes environment beats heredity.
- Mildred LorimerHonor's lovely, anxious mother, who wants a dainty daughter and a safer match than a King.
- Carter Van MeterA brilliant, wealthy, lame young neighbor who wants Honor for himself and doubts Jimsy's blood.
- Marcia Van MeterCarter's devoted widowed mother, who longs to give her son everything he wants.
- Ethel Bruce-DrummondAn English novelist and old friend of Stephen, who sees the love triangle early and helps Honor.
- Yaqui JuanA strong, silent Yaqui Indian whom Jimsy saved, now a loyal servant at the Mexican ranch.
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Play the Game! in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Play the Game!
by Ruth Comfort Mitchell · 1921
A girl who runs with the boys fights to hold on to the football hero everyone calls a Wild King.
Easy read2–5 hours to read20 languages
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“You can’t beat L. A. High!”
In short
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! at a glance
- 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
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
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.
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Details
- First published
- 1921
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 3 h 50 min
- Level
- Easy read
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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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.
The author
Ruth Comfort Mitchell
1882–1954 · American novelist and poet
Ruth Comfort Mitchell (1882–1954) was an American novelist, poet, and playwright. She was born in San Francisco and lived in California, including Los Gatos. Her novels included Play the Game! and Of Human Kindness, published in 1940. She was married to Sanborn Young, who served in the California State Senate.
“You can’t beat L. A. High!”
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