Diction in "Lines of Scrimmage"

The author used words that were easy to understand, but they were also words that explained what she was trying to get across: the fact that you have to believe in yourself, your team, and your origin. The only unusual words in the story were the words that were said in a different language. Even with the words that were in a different language, they were still easy to guess at the meaning, and example of this would be: habibi, probably meaning son, or something that you would call your child.
The sentences weren't long, but they weren't short either; they were sort of right in the middle. This style of writing made the story easy to understand but still exciting to read. It wasn't complicated, but it wasn't silly or childishly simple either. The way she wrote her sentences kept the story flowing smoothly without misunderstanding.
With the flowing the story also went sort of up and down, meaning there wasn't one thing that kept getting repeated. The author made each football game different she didn't talk about every small detail, except for where it was interesting.

Quote from, "My Favorite Chaperone"

"Maya! You can go!" Nurzhan jumped up and down like a little monkey, and I stared at him in disbelief.

"Don't joke with me about such a thing, boy!" I snapped.

"No! It's true. Look!" He waved the permission slip in front of my face.

This is when Maya has lost hope of going to the Spring Fling; especially after her father saw her, Daniel, Shannon, and David goofing off. Nurzhan had offered to try to persuade their father to let her go, and Maya doesn't think it will happen. Nurzhan comes back into her room after trying and she can't really believe that it happened. Her parents come into the room to confirm what Nurzhan has said; under the condition that Nurzhan goes as her chaperone.

This is one of the parts in the story that show how close Maya and Nurzhan are. They help each other out a lot; Maya helped Nurzhan out when he got into the fight with the boy; and Nurzhan helped Maya with this. I think this has something to do with the fact that they are new to the country and they have to work together to survive happily.