Book Review on Schooled

Book Review on Schooled

By Emma GHIGLIONE

Schooled, by Gordon Korman, is a great book about a child who are home-schooled and grow up cut off from society. It is a non-fiction novel which was published by Scholastic in 2008. This book would make an unforgettable movie!

Schooled is a very interesting and amusing story of a 8th grade hippie boy named Cap Anderson (short for Capricorn) who lives in a community called Garland, which is a little farm where there used to only be hippies. Now, Cap lives alone with his grandmother, Rain. He is home-schooled and completely unfamiliar with the real outside world. One day, Rain is picking plums and falls off the tree and is obliged to stay at the hospital. Cap is forced to then move in with a guidance counselor, Mrs. Donnelly and her daughter, Sophie, and to go to a public school named Claverage Middle School. In this school there is a tradition, they elect an 8th grade president by picking the greatest nerd in 8th grade. Of course, Cap wins the elections. At first everyone makes fun of him, but then he becomes the greatest president of Claverage Middle School!

There are many reasons why this book would make a wonderful movie. First, it is very interesting how it talks about a young boy who knows nothing about the outside world. There are many very funny scenes in the novel which would make the public laugh hysterically. For example, the scene where Capricorn just got in Claverage Middle School and doesn't know what a wedgie or a spitball is, was a moment to remember! Another scene that is very touching is when Cap is preparing the Halloween Dance as President, and writes out checks for thousands of dollars on the school account for charities. He had no idea how the bank system worked.

In this book there is a lot of suspense which would be great for lovers of that style of film. When Rain comes back from the hospital, Cap goes back to Garland with her without telling anyone where he is going, and everyone at Claverage thinks he is dead... "Where was Cap? Why hadn't he come back? Could he really be hurt? What if he is dead?" (page 158) Another suspenseful scene, is when Sophie is trying to get her driver's license, her dream, but we don't know if she will get it or not.

The characters are very well-developed in this book because every chapter in Schooled is written with a point of view of a different person in the book. For example, chapter one is written under the point of view of Cap, but chapter two is written under the point of view of Mrs. Donnelly, the guidance counselor, the person with which Cap stays with while Rain is at the hospital. In all, there are nine different characters that share their point of view which would make the story richer for the reader. This would make the movie great because you will be able to know what many characters are thinking of what