Module 7: Schooled

Schooled by Gordon Korman

Book Cover Image:

Book Summary:

Capricorn (Cap) Anderson has lived his entire life at Garland Farm, a hippie commune, with only his grandmother Rain.  Having been homeschooled, Cap has impressive book smarts, but no street smarts and no awareness of modern societal fixtures, like television and money.    When Rain falls from a tree and shatters her hip, Cap is thrown into real world, and worse, public middle school.  With his long blond hair and hippie-dippy clothes, Cap becomes the perfect target for the yearly eighth grade prank at Claverage Middle School which involves electing the dorkiest student class president and then tormenting him/her for the rest of the year.  Cap, however, is oblivious to the joke and sets about trying to learn what it means to be class president.  Though the popular students throw obstacles in his path while pretending to be helpful, Cap pulls through by being true to his ideals of kindness and non-violence.  He eventually wins over all the students at Claverage and becomes the most memorable student and class president ever.      

         

APA Reference of Book:

Korman, G. (2007). Schooled. New York: Hyperion Books. 

Impressions:

Schooled by Gordon Korman is an interesting take on the classic fish-out-of-water story.  With   his hippie belief system and his lack of awareness on the importance of popularity, Caps foray into the public school system should be a major train wreck of bruised feelings and abject humiliation.  Instead, Cap with his at times too extreme to be believed naivety seems to sail through with only a few bruises and an accidentally broken nose.  Not only that, Cap becomes the big man on campus and the most popular student at Claverage Middle School.  The turning point in his acceptance is his outrageous decision to steer the school bus to the hospital after the driver suffers a heart attack, despite the police squad trailing behind and ordering him to pull over.  It’s unexpected scenes like this that will keep readers glued to the pages.  Each chapter is told from the first person point of view of various characters; this is particularly important because it allows readers to experience each character’s change of heart as the story progresses.  Schooled is a great read that will create instant Gordan Korman fans.         

Professional Review:

School Library Journal

“Capricorn, 13, lives with his hippie grandmother on a farm commune. He's never been to school, never watched TV, and doesn't even own a phone. When Rain falls out of a tree while picking plums and is sent to rehab for several weeks, Cap stays with a social worker and is sent to the local junior high school. There he is introduced to iPods, cell phones, spit balls, and harassment. Cap, with his long frizzy hair, hemp shoes, and serene ignorance of everything most of the kids care about, is the dweebiest of the dweebs, and it's the custom at this school to elect such a kid to be eighth-grade class president (which offers extra humiliation opportunities). The story is told from multiple points of view, adding depth to even the most unsympathetic characters. Korman's humor is a mix of edgy and silly, the plot moves along at a steady pace, and the accessible and smooth writing style brings all the elements together to make a satisfying whole. The plot is not long on plausibility, but maybe that's not important in this case. Will Cap's ingrained peacefulness and sense of self win out in the end? Will it matter that he's entrusted with writing checks to help pay for the eighth-grade dance, even though he's not clear on the concept of what a check is? Readers will stay tuned to the last page, and Korman's many fans won't be disappointed.”

Persson, L. (2007, August). [Review of the book Schooled, by G. Korman]. School Library Journal, (53)8, 118. Retrieved from http://www.slj.com/

Library Uses:

Middle School Library

Gordon Korman is a prolific writer of books intended for a middle school audience, which makes him the perfect author to start off an author spotlight event.  Each week or bi-weekly, the librarian can create a book display of each author’s titles, post book trailers promoting the author’s books on the library website, and perhaps even have a dress-like-the-character day.  For Schooled, students could dress up as hippies.