Book Review: The Unteachables

                                                                                        

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR ‘THE UNTEACHABLES’ BOOK BY GORDON KORMAN! 

Introduction: 

The Unteachables is an amazing book that was written by Gordon Korman (One of my favorite authors.) on a bunch of kids labelled ‘The Unteachables’ by the students and faculty of Greenwich K-8 School. But this year, they take on possibly the most mundane teacher of all time. BEHOLD Mister Kermit (ribbit ribbit ribbit). The kids range from Elaine, the strong and intimidating hulk of muscle. To Parker, the dyslexic thirteen year old and finally Kiana, who technically does not even belong in Greenwich K-8 School. In this book report I will be talking about my opinion on the cheating scandal (ooh), Parker's unique reading condition, and Elaine (Rhymes with pain)’s false reputation. 

My opinion on the students: 

Firstly, I want to talk about the students of Room 117. I feel like they are misunderstood and if treated the right way and provided with the correct amount of help they can be excellent students and excel in their studies. One example of this is Parker, who with the help of books and some word problems now can decipher long sentences. I feel like this shows that the so-called ‘unteachables’ are in fact just a bunch of mistaken kids. 

My opinion on the cheating scandal: 

In the Unteachables, Mr Kermit is involved in a cheating scandal with his student Jake Terranova. The scandal involved teenage Jake sharing and distributing a statewide exam answer sheet that he got. (How Jake got the sheet was not specified) Principal Thaddeus who initially took credit for the anomaly of everyone in the class acing the test and getting first place in the country, suddenly cut ties with the exam and pointed the finger to Mr Kermit. This resulted in Mr Kermit losing his engagement to a fellow teacher, losing his faith and dedication as a teacher and having him be a spare or an expendable asset (fancy term). My opinion on this is that Principal Thaddeus should have suspended or expelled Jake. As for Mr Kermit, he should have at most given Mr Kermit a warning about being more vigilant around his students. Furthermore. I feel that Principal Thaddeus should have taken some if not most of the blame as he was the Principal of the school and shifting the blame to a fellow teacher is not a good thing to do as a role model. (Principals are supposed to be role models for future teachers and students.) 

My opinion on Parker’s reading disability: (Dyslexia) 

I feel like Parker is a misunderstood kid. Because of his dyslexia, he was not able to read and comprehend sentences/words. This has caused his teachers to think that he was dumb and therefore Parker was dumped down to Room 117 (the class for the “unteachables”). In addition to that, as we can see from the book, once Mr Kermit introduced anagrams to Parker, he quickly improved, this shows that Parker is a quick learner. I have seen kids with dyslexia and they are  really bright and smart kids. Quick note, Dyslexia is a condition where letters, sentences and words are jumbled up. Example: People without dyslexia might see the word “dog” as just “dog”, but people who are dyslexic may see “dog” as “god” or “odg”. 

My opinion on Elaine's false reputation: 

If you have read the book, you might remember a character called Elaine. She is a hulking mass of muscle and has a reputation of knocking people over, punching them into doors and shoving them into walls. (Hence the ‘Rhymes with pain’ term) But what I just said is all false information. Elaine is actually a beast, not in terms of physical strength but in terms of mental strength. If not burdened by her bad reputation, I feel like Elaine could have been a top student. Her amazing potential is displayed when she nearly gets full marks on a math test. As I have been to middle school, I know that gossip is rampant there and even one small whisper of you playing with dogs can spiral into a story of you fighting hounds in a dark alleyway. 

Conclusion: 

Overall, I feel that ‘The Unteachables’ is a great book if you want to chill and relax at home. Gordon Korman has always written banger books and I hope to see a Unteachables sequel some time in the future. If you want to read some of Gordon Korman's other books, I highly recommend the Slacker series and the Swindle series. 

Thanks for reading! 

P.S: Also if you could follow this blog that would make my day!

-Trevor