Book excerpt: The 8th title in the New York Times bestselling Big Nate series! With a new crush, and the annual Mud Bowl coming up, can Nate make a good impression without slipping up? With more detentions than he can count, Nate is in DEEP in Big Nate Blasts Off! When Nate submits a mocking cartoon of Randy Betancourt - winner of PS 38's 'most likely to mop the floor with someone else's face' award - to the school paper, tensions between the two are on the rise. After Randy jumps Nate the boys are caught in a fight by the Principle and forced to undergo joint peer counselling sessions run by Nate's arch-enemy: teachers' pet Gina! And as if that wasn't enough to deal with the Mud Bowl - an annual ultimate Frisbee game against P.S. 38's biggest rivals: Jefferson Middle School - is coming up. Will Nate be the star of the team, or a total bomb? And can he keep his crush on new-girl Ruby a secret, or will someone spill the beans?