The Report Card

The Report Card
by Andrew Clements
Edition: Paperback
Amazon.com


Being A Kid, September 8, 2008

The Report Card

Nora had a report card she was proud of. In fact, she worked hard to get all D's, but didn't quite succeed; she got one C. She knew that her friend Stephen tried really hard to get good grades, but when he didn't, he felt dumb. If Nora could get a bad report card, she thought Stephen would feel better.

Nora knew before she was old enough to go to school, that she was a genius. At a very young age, she could read better than her older brother, but she didn't want to hurt his feelings. While in kindergarten, Nora began to mimic the other children. If one child was struggling with 2+2, she would struggle with 2+2. When she mimicked a child who couldn't read `cat', she would pretend that she couldn't only read `cat'.

Her favorite person to mimic was Stephen. Nora and Stephen became friends and she never told him that she was a genius. In fact, even her parents didn't know of her extreme reading and learning abilities. That was, until the report card. Nora's parents went straight to the school. They held conferences with the teachers and principal. They were going to find out how Nora could get a bad report card without, anyone notifying them, that there was a problem. What Nora hadn't counted on was the IQ test.

I liked Nora for not wanting to be the center of attention. She had extreme abilities, but she was just a kid and enjoyed sports and learning, just on her own terms.

Jill Ammon Vanderwood,
author: Through the Rug
Through The Rug 2: Follow That Dog (Through the Rug)
Stowaway, The San Francisco Adventures of Sara, the Pineapple Cat