Korman, Gordon.
SCHOOLED
New York : Hyperion Books for Children, 2007
IL 5-8
ISBN 0786856920

(2 booktalks)

Cap has never been in the town before.  Sure he's been there with his grandmother when they had to pick up supplies, but for the most part, Cap has spent his entire life alone with his grandmother.  Back in the 60s, Rain had founded the commune and it had been a lively place.  But as the people got older and times changed, everyone had left to resume their lives in the real world.  But not Rain.  When Cap's parents were killed, Rain raised him in the ways of the commune.  But now Rain is in the hospital and Cap is in foster care and forced to go to the public school.  With his long hair and homemade sandals, Cap really sticks out.  But his naiveté is what really sets him apart from the others. 

Booktalk #2

This book is the story of Capricorn Anderson, who goes by the name of “Cap”. It is the story of a 14 year old boy raised on a farm commune by his hippie grandmother named Rain.  He is home schooled by Rain and the two of them are the only ones left on the Garland Farm Commune.  Cap has never watched TV, tasted pizza, been around kids his age, and has absolutely no idea what a “wedgie” is.   When his grandmother falls while picking a plum, she is hospitalized and her broken hip requires her to spend weeks in rehab.  Cap is then temporarily placed in the home of a social worker with a teenage daughter who thinks he is very weird.  While living with the Donnelly family, Cap attends Claverage Middle School (dubbed “C Average” by the students).  Find out what is in store for Cap in the new and foreign land of the place called “middle school”.  Read SCHOOLED by Gordon Korman.   (New Hampshire Great Stone Face nominee, 2008-2009)