Schooled by Gordon Korman

I finished reading this book for a second time, and I gave it a rating of five out of five. Capricorn Anderson is growing up with his hippie grandmother on a farm. She gets hurt, so Cap is sent to a foster home and is forced to attend school for the first time, ever. The tradition at "C average School" is to elect the biggest 8th grade nerd as class president and then tease them mercilessly for the school year. Cap is easily elected president, and the pranks begin. The former 8th grade nerd is very pleased Cap has arrived and becomes his best friend. Cap is so gullible and naive that he doesn't even realize that he's the victim of pranks. This takes the fun out of the teasing and actually backfires on all of the teasers. Cap is also in charge of organizing the big Halloween dance, and that gets completely out of hand!

You'll probably like this book if you've read Stargirl. It's fun to watch the "cool" kids try to embarrass Cap and then see the effect on them when Cap doesn't behave like they expected. The chapters are written from different points of view, but it's okay. It's clear who's speaking, and the characters chosen are important in those events. The different points of view allow the reader to see inside the characters' heads as they change their thinking. It's nice to see a character who not only defeats peer pressure but is able to change it. Unlike Stargirl, this book has a happy ending.

Lexile level from lexile.com 740