Schooled

     Schooled is an excellent book that I enjoyed from the start of the novel. I was immediately captivated by Cap's inability to relate to the rest of society. After his grandmother was injured from falling out of a tree, he was forced to attend a new, public school. I could relate to Cap, because I moved when I was in elementary school and the change was an adjustment. I didn't expect to relate to Cap considering he lived such a bubbled lifestyle from being home-schooled. This connection drew me even further into the novel's plot. This was a quick read with much going on in each chapter. I can absolutely understand why this is an Iowa Children's Choice Award novel! I found myself constantly making analyses and connections to life situations and friends' experiences. It made me look back at my grammar school years and wonder if students were able to make the same connections.  

      Cap is a teenager facing the difficulties of growing up in a society that perceives him in a manner that labels him as "different". This is a common situation teenaged students are faced with. Since Cap struggles with understanding his new terminology, peers, care-takers, and school, I feel that students would be able to relate to the novel fairly well. The novel has a quirky, dry sense of humor to it and I think students will find that enjoyable in contrast to their other required school readings. Students would be able to make individual opinions about the novel, the characters, and the frequent miscommunications/misunderstandings and this would allow for personal character growth through the reading of this novel. Another intriguing idea is how this novel shifts the first-person narratives among characters from chapter to chapter. This may be different than previous novels students have read. It would be great to use in an English class as a means of talking about using different points of views to write stories from. Along with the theme of changing narrators, I strongly believe that this novel would be useful to include when incorporating themes involving any "new" or "changing" ideas. Society is constantly changing and evolving into something different that is shaped by its people. This novel can pinpoint that idea into a particular story line the students can analyze easily. All in all, students will appreciate the humor, relate-able life situations, and drama involved in this award-categorized novel.

Schooled

By: Gordon Korman

Published in 2007