Play Book Tag discussion
This topic is about
The Unteachables
December 2020: Other Books
>
The Unteachables / Gordon Korman - 4****
date
newest »
newest »
The Unteachables – Gordon Korman
Digital audiobook performed by a full cast
4****
From the book jacket: The Unteachables are a notorious class of misfits, delinquents, and academic train wrecks. Their teacher is Mr Zachary Kermit, the most burned-out teacher in all of Greenwich. He was once a rising star, but his career was shattered by a cheating scandal that still haunts him. After years of phoning it in, he is finally one year away from early retirement. The Unteachables never thought they’d find a teacher who had a worse attitude than they did. And Mr. Kermit never thought he would actually care about teaching again.
My reactions:
This was a fun, enjoyable middle-grade book about kids – and at least one teacher – who need a little extra help and a hefty dose of understanding and empathy. The two central students are Kiana, a temporary transfer from California who’s living with her Dad and Stepmom while her mother (an actress) is on location, and Parker, a local student who still can’t read, though he CAN drive. The rest of this special class of eighth graders is made up of kids with a variety of issues and special gifts: anger-management, dyslexia, an injured former star-athlete with limited academic success, a gifted artist, a student whose large size makes everyone assume aggression, etc.
I loved how the kids came to understand one another, and how they came to understand their teacher and his struggles. I cheered at their efforts to right the wrongs they witnessed. And I was glad that some of the adults stepped up to the plate to admit past mistakes and try to right past injustices that may have resulted.
I think that young teens and middle-grade students will particularly like the focus on what the kids CAN do. Put down and bullied, they are clearly NOT helpless victims. Bravo!
The audio version is performed by a full cast: Sarah Beth Goer, Oliver Wyman, Josh Hurley, Tristan Morris, Chris Gebauer, Sean Welsh Brown, Pete Larkin, Fred Berman, Jennifer Nittoso. Though I’m not certain which actor voices which character, I can say that they all do a marvelous job.