Schooled: Book Talk

Written Transcript 

The book I read is Schooled by Gordan Korman. It is realistic fiction.

This book is about a boy named Capricorn who lives with his grandmother, Rain in the hippie community of Garland. One day Rain gets in an accident that leads her in the hospital and since Cap doesn’t have anyone to go with, he moves in with a social worker for the time being. He’s never been out of Garland, so it’s a new adventure living in the modern world.

Capricorn is a very smart boy. He has long hair and wears homemade sandals and tie-dye shirts. He just hasn’t been exposed to much so he’s not smart “on the streets” This causes him to get teased.

One of the main conflicts that Cap must overcome is being 8th grade president. A tradition that they have in the middle school is that they elect the biggest loser of the school to be president and the kids found Cap very vulnerable. Capricorn doesn’t really understand how the school president works, and he’s given false information from the other students.

One of the main themes in this book is popularity and the meaning of popularity. In the beginning of the novel, Zach is the most popular kid at school while Cap and another student, Daryl, are the least. The way Zach got to be so popular is by bullying students like Daryl and Capricorn and surrounding himself by certain students that made up the “popular” group. Since Zach was only popular by being mean, the so-called friendships had no foundation, making it easy for his group to just leave him without feeling bad.

This novel has a happy tone for the most part. It’s just a fun read.

Something I found really interesting about the book is the way its written. Each chapter is a different character’s point of view. It really helps the reader understand the feelings of each character, whether good or bad.

I would highly recommend this book to everyone who is looking for a fun read. It’s a unique story and I really enjoyed it.

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