Book Talk on Schooled!

     The novel that I would definitely recommend is the book Schooled by Gordon Korman. It's a realistic fiction book about a boy named Capricorn Anderson (Cap for short) who grew up on a farm commune by the name of Garland. He's grown up on this farm his whole life with his hippie grandmother, named Rain. Though his life takes a huge turn when his grandmother falls out of a tree while picking plums and breaks her hip. Cap now has to live in the "real world" for a couple of weeks while his grandmother goes through physical therapy to heal her hip. Cap is not your "Average Joe". He's never eaten pizza, or watched TV, or even gone to a regular school, so that makes the transition into a brand new middle school, even more difficult. When he shows up to Claverage Middle School for his first day, people realize he doesn't exactly fit the social norms. At Claverage, it is tradition to elect the most eccentric or irregular kid to be 8th grade class president, and Cap was the most eccentric kid at this middle school that's for sure. After he realizes he's been elected president, kids mess with him, and make fun of him, and play jokes on him (specifically the "popular" kids) and he actually has lots of duties to fulfill, but it's how Cap handles the predicaments he lands in being the person he is with the ideals he has and the way he had grown up that makes the story truly incredible.

     I really love the mood and theme of this novel, which is one of the reasons I'm recommending it! The mood of the novel can be different at times. Though, there is a lively and lighthearted mood for a large part of the book. When Cap begins to become more liked by the rest of the students, they participate in activities together that bring out the best in all of them, whether that be tie-dying t-shirts, or doing tai-chi on the school's front lawn! Everyone just seems to be so full of life and energy; so joyful! Everything is very positive, which is what really helps to create these moods and has the power to make the reader feel content when they read the book! The cheerful mood for a majority of the book is so enjoyable and something I love personally. On to the theme, it's a pretty simple one, but one I'm not going to go into much detail about because I don't want to give away too much of the novel! One of the major themes is that you should always be kind and never let any seemingly negative situation get the best of you! Keeping a cool head and a positive attitude will always reward you in the end. I feel that this is an incredible message, and that if you read this book, you will find this to be true, and be inspired to live your life, a little bit more like Capricorn Anderson.

     This book honestly had so many amazing components that caused me to enjoy it so much, though the main character Cap, is what really caused me to love this book, why I recommend it, and why you should go out and buy it, or check it out from the library, or order it online! Capricorn Anderson believes in being kind to everyone. He believes that you should always give people the benefit of the doubt, and negativity is always unnecessary. He continually impresses me with his ability to never stray from what he believes is right and moral, despite his transition into this new, fast paced world, where he is at first, ridiculed for the person he is! This book is a very good book for understanding of people, and the fact that they are much more than they appear! I know that everyone has judged someone based on how they look and seem, just like Cap was. People mocked his long hair, and meditation, and tie-dye shirts, and his other strange quirks. He had practically come from another planet with how clueless he was in the beginning, and people took advantage of that. It took a while for people to see how he had a gigantic heart, that was filled with only benevolence! Though, the book was from multiple point of views, so we got to see other people perspectives of Cap, while we learned about Cap's own thoughts and ideas. Imagine knowing exactly what a person you were ridiculing or making fun of was going through or thinking about! Maybe you would have a different view of them if you did. This book teaches that valuable lesson of walking in others shoes, as even if they have some weird quirks, behind all those quirks could be someone who is filled with so much love and goodness!