The Report Card
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| The Report Card | |
| Author | Andrew Clements |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Brian Selznick |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Children's novel |
| Publisher | Aladdin Paperbacks |
| Publication date | 2004 |
| Media type | |
The Report Card is a novel by Andrew Clements. It is based on a 5th grade girl, Nora Rose Rowley. Nora is secretly a genius, but doesn't tell anyone for fear that she will be thought of as "different."
[edit] Plot Summary
The summary of the novel begins in the school bus on the way home. Stephen, Nora's best friend, forces Nora to show him her report card. He is astonished by the low marks and asks her how that could have happened because Stephen always gets lower marks than Nora. Stephen is obviously not gifted as Nora. Stephen gets bad scores. Nora also gets poor scores on purpose. After the tests, Nora sees a big change in Stephen. He puts himself down, thinks he's stupid, and is almost always angry about low grades. Additionally, he is under high pressure from his family. Nora doesn't like to see him angry, and plans to change what tests look like in the eyes of the average student, causing craziness throughout the school and involving her family and the entire teaching staff. The report card that Nora purposely failed comes back to haunt her when her parents call a parent-teacher meeting. After outsmarting a show off everyone knows that she is a genius. Her parents are thrilled. They plan out the rest of her life. The book ends with her plan successful. Stephen has changed his view on grades, students in the school change their attitude towards tests,grades and best of all, her parents agree to set Nora free from their own educational conventions. She did this for a reason.
[edit] Characters
Nora Rose Rowley: The protagonist of the story and secretive genius. Her appearance is described as being short with reddish-blond under arm hair. She enjoys eating ice-cream and being fat as it gives her a chance to express her intellect (physics and math) on the field. Researching is her favorite hobby. She was so intelligent by kindergarten that she had taught herself to understand Spanish by watching the Spanish Network and to read the National Geographic. She loved astronomy, Latin and archaeology. Her mother describes her as thoughtful, kind, and caring. She has two siblings; Ann and Todd. Her best friend is Stephen. She also thinks Lucas is the best person in the whole world.
Stephen: Nora's best friend. He has been struggling with school and his self-confidence is poor due to low grades. His favorite subject is spelling.
Ms. Byrne: The librarian at Nora's school. She was one of the first to find out about Nora's unusually high intelligence and played a large role in carrying out Nora's plan.
Ms. Noyes: Nora's Social Studies and English teacher.
Ms. Zhang: Nora's Science and Math teacher.
Ms. Prill: Nora's art teacher.
Mrs. Card: Nora's music teacher.
Mr. McKay: Nora's PE(gym)teacher.
