Customer Reviews

The Literacy Bridge - Large Print - The Report Card

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I am a teacher who adores Andrew Clements' books. I use them for class reading and for literature circles. Clements never talks down to kids-- he writes both kids and adults as people rather than caricatures or puppets to advance a plot-- and his stories are engaging and interesting.

I enjoyed reading The Report Card, although it was a bit preachier than his other books, and some characters, especially Nora's parents, are not as well developed or realistic as I expect from Andrew Clements. The debate about standardized tests is highlighted, and as a teacher it was nice to see it pointed out to kids that most teachers are not test fans either. The fact that standardized test numbers can't really tell you much about a child seems to be Clements' main point, and it's one I agree with.

My main concern about The Report Card is the mixed message it sends about being smart, especially being a smart girl. Nora, the highly gifted heroine, has been hiding her intelligence for years, in large part so she won't make her best friend, a boy, feel bad. I had expected Nora to come to a realization that her intelligence was a gift to be celebrated and shared. However, the resolution leaves Nora content to be "normal," which by Nora's definition means not to pursue any opportunities available to learn about and expand her gifts, and essentially to continue masking her intelligence so that other people won't be made to feel bad.

My worry is that girls in the target age group will read <i>The Report Card and conclude that "normalcy" does not include intelligence. While I don't believe that this was Clements' intention, the message is there. Girls have hidden or downplayed their academic abilities far too long-- we should be teaching them to embrace their talents.

Nora brings home a report card full of D's on purpose to protest grades and how kids label themselves based on grades. This act of rebellion upsets her parents and starts an investigation which uncovers the secret Nora has been keeping since she was a toddler and learned to read. She is actually a profoundly gifted girl masquerading as a "normal" one.

Both editorial reviews mention this secrecy in a neutral/positive way; it being a reasonable method to avoid the "pressures" associated with high intelligence.

What disturbed me greatly about this book is that the author evidently agrees. This report card is not the first one that Nora has manipulated, just the first one that was caught. Nora has been manipulating report cards since she started school, maintaining a nondescript C+ average. Imagine how much pressure that takes, to never ever let it slip to the teacher or classmates that you really understand the material in a significantly deeper way? Every day in class discussions, homework, written assignments, tests... constantly being on guard not to get too many answers right or answer something too thoughtfully and blow your cover. Doesn't that put a lot of pressure on a child? Not for Nora.

The author gives Nora a compelling reason for this behavior: hide your talents so you can have friends. Nora has found wonderfully caring, honest and brave friends, especially Stephen, and believes that to keep her friends she must act normal - just like they are. To maintain her special friendship with an honest, trustworthy, wonderful boy, Nora has to maintain a life of deceit. In a world where teen age girls often feel pressured into dumbing themselves down to attract boyfriends, Nora wins the prize by starting in kindergarten.
What a role model!

The Report Card is a good example of showing that kids can actually make a difference. I really liked this book!

Nora is a eleven-year-old girl with two smart older siblings. She is a genius but keeps it a secret because she doesn't want to stand out! For her first report card, her parents were expecting average grades because that's what Nora usually got. Instead of average grades, Nora got all D's and one C! Her parents were very upset because she wasn't doing her best and wasn't herself at school or at home. The reason for all the chaos was her best friend Stephan. Stephan wasn't the smartest boy in the class but Nora thought he could be! Nora's big plan was what would happen when every kid in the school got really bad grades on tests and quizzes. Nora thought school was for fun and to learn a little bit, but not to do work! She was totally wrong. When she got to school the next day, she found out that mostly every kid had gotten a zero on every paper that had been assigned to them. Nora knew what she was doing was totally wrong to the worst degree, but she thought it was great that she was actually making a difference! When all the teachers found out about Nora's plan they took it straight down to the principal and told her what was happening and who was a ahead of all the mess. The principal found out Nora was the one, she called her down to her office and made her confess what she did. Nora ended up telling everyone she was very smart and just wanted to make a difference. She told them she did it because having Stephan feel so bad about himself she wanted him to feel better and to think he was actually smart.

This book was so powerful, I couldn't put it down! I recommend this book to all kids who are worried about their grades!

Fifth Grader Nora Rowley is a genius. However, she decided in kindergarten that she wished to be best friends with Stephen, a middle of the road kid, and that meant being a normal kid. Now she is in 5th Grade and dislikes what seems like many peoples obsessions over grades, and especially the way tests make Stephen feel, and so she hatches a plan to make people think twice about what they mean. This enjoyable novel carries not only Clements typical theme of the power of what kids can achieve but also a thoughtful discussion of grades and standardized testing. The ending sees Nora's opinions evolve and will leave readers with some things to think about.

I know I will sound like an echo of the previous reviews, but I must chime in, in complete agreement. While I find the author's position on testing absolutely on target, it disturbs me that Nora ends up deciding that she will continue to hide her abilities in order to have and keep friends.
I am *hoping* Mr. Clements wants us to be disturbed in this manner, that he actually is putting this sad finale in place to make teachers, librarians, and especially *parents* consider that this is what our testing community has done to children like Nora.
Please, Andrew Clements! Let us know!

This a truly great book! I highly recomend it to you. The characters are colorful and the plot is great. So go out to your bookstore right know! You will definatley enjoy this book.

10 year old Nora is a genius, but nobody knows it. Nora is afraid that people will think of her as somebody else, not just plain old Nora. This book follows Nora's thoughts and how she learns that no matter what she will always be herself.

"The Report Card" is a story about a young girl who has a major issue with report cards. Having hidden the fact that she's a genius all of her life, she feels that grades on report cards aren't a good measure of a student. She decides to do something about it by getting all Ds (and one C, to her disappointment) on her own report card.

Things seem to be going the right way at first, but even a genius can't anticipate everything. It's not long before the situation becomes out-of-control, but fortunately there are those willing to help.

While it's possible this book might have a negative effect on some children, I don't think it's really suggesting that anyone hide their genius. If anything, it's simply suggesting that child geniuses can do great things, but at the same time, they need some time of their own to simply be like ordinary kids. That, and the action this book can inspire about the matter of grades, means that it gives two (and possibly more) great messages.

The character portrayals seem reasonably accurate. Well-rounded characters are important, but it's also important to remember too that there are parents and other adults out there who can be rather close-minded, and don't take the time to actually get to know what's going on in the life of their child as well as they should. (Without being unnecessarily prying and intrusive, of course)

Like some of the other reviewers here, I would have to say that this is not Andrew Clements best. The premise of looking at the negative consequences of all the testing and emphasis on grades in our schools is a good one that needs to be examined, but it doesn't quite work here. The main problem is Nora. Now maybe kids will buy into the fact that this 10-year-old girl is a super genius who has been hiding her talents all her life. Any adult - even an observant teenager - would say "That doesn't sound right." No child would be able to hide that kind of talent. Clements who have done far better to make her very smart, not super smart. I think more kids might be able to identify with that. As it is, there really isn't any pressure on Nora at all. She could ace all the tests easily - even the ones in the gifted and talented program. While there's also some concern about Nora wanting to be "normal" and maybe thinking girls aren't supposed to be smart, I didn't get that sense. Nora knows she can be pretty much whatever she wants to be. Despite the drawbacks, there could still be some interesting discussions as a result of reading this book.

The Report Card

Nora had a report card she was proud of. In fact, she worked hard to get all D's, but didn't quite succeed; she got one C. She knew that her friend Stephen tried really hard to get good grades, but when he didn't, he felt dumb. If Nora could get a bad report card, she thought Stephen would feel better.

Nora knew before she was old enough to go to school, that she was a genius. At a very young age, she could read better than her older brother, but she didn't want to hurt his feelings.

While in kindergarten, Nora began to mimic the other children. If one child was struggling with 2+2, she would struggle with 2+2. When she mimicked a child who couldn't read `cat', she would pretend that she couldn't read `cat'. Her favorite person to mimic was Stephen.

Nora and Stephen became friends and she never told him that she was a genius. In fact, even her parents didn't know of her extreme reading and learning abilities. That was, until the report card. Nora's parents went straight to the school. They held conferences with the teachers and principal. They were going to find out how Nora could get a bad report card without, anyone notifying them, that there was a problem.

What Nora hadn't counted on was the IQ test.
I liked Nora for not wanting to be the center of attention. She had extreme abilities, but she was just a kid and enjoyed sports and learning, just on her own terms.

Jill Ammon Vanderwood, author
Through the Rug
Through The Rug: Follow That Dog (Through the Rug)

Clements' book revolves around the importance schools place on standardized testing, and the pressure the testing puts on students and teachers alike to perform well on the tests. (As an elementary school teacher myself, I abhor standardized mandated testing that attempts to assess each student regardless of their individual differences. The kids in my classes forfeit weeks of learning every year as I attend to the testing my district requires. YUCK!)

The Report Card is an engaging book that will capture a lot of readers' imaginations...as long as they like the main character, Nora. Nora isn't like some of the other protagonists in Clements' books because she isn't thrust into a difficult situation with which she then has to deal; instead she makes her own life difficult by doing some very unintelligent things.