Badeep! (Auditory Imagery)
Tired of Lu's cocky attitude, Castle steps onto the running track, interrupting the Defenders' practice to challenge Lu to a race. The coach lets Castle run, getting the competitors to prepare and putting his whistle between his teeth. Castle says the beginning of the race was signaled by "the short squeak, badeep!" of the coach's whistle. In this example of auditory imagery, Castle uses onomatopoeia to recreate the particular sound of the coach's race-starting whistle.
Swishy-Swishy Sweatpants (Auditory Imagery)
After challenging Lu to a race despite simply being an observer at the track practice, Castle manages to run 100 meters at the same speed as the established athlete. As he leaves, Castle hears Coach Brody run up beside him, asking him to wait. Castle comments: “He was wearing those sweatpants, the swishy-swishy kind that make every step sound like paper crumpling." In this example of auditory imagery, Castles immerses the reader in his sensory experience by detailing the particular swishing sound of the coach's pants, which to Castle's ears sound like paper being crumpled.
Big Bold Red (Visual Imagery)
Although Castle starts track practice believing he will finally receive his team uniform, Coach Brody plays a cruel trick and hands over a folded poster. It turns out that the piece of paper came from Everything Sports, the store from which Castle stole his shoes. Castle comments: “And what I found on that piece of paper was the most shocking thing ever. It was a picture of me, dashing from the sports store. A close-up of my face, and underneath it, in red—big bold red—was the word SHOPLIFTER.” In this example of visual imagery, Reynolds draws out the suspense of the scene by having Castle list the visual details of the poster, reserving the red bolded word "SHOPLIFTER" for last. In doing so, Reynolds uses the delayed revelation of the full image to model Castle's devastation upon seeing the word.
Smell of Bacon and Eggs (Olfactory Imagery)
On the Saturday of his first track meet, Castle wakes up to the revelation that his mother is cooking him a hearty breakfast. Castle comments: "I got up early, met by the sweet smell of bacon and eggs, neither of which are actually sweet-smelling, but you know what I mean." In this example of olfactory imagery, Castle notes how, as soon as he wakes up, the savory scents of bacon and eggs frying in the kitchen wafts into his nostrils. The smell is a welcome one, which leads Castle to mistakenly refer to it as "sweet."
