Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 65
 This book gets a good grade! October 12, 2009
Whatcha Reading Now? (Florida, USA)
Nora Rose Rowley is a very smart fifth grader but no one knows it--not her teachers, not her best friend, not even her parents. Because when Nora realized at a very young age that her intelligence made her different, she decided to be average.
And she was. But now, Nora has decided that everyone places too much emphasis on grades and test scores. She concocts a plan to purposely fail to prove it.
Andrew Clements has a knack for painting his characters into corners and it's always enjoyable to see how he lets them work their way out.
-- Reviewed by Michelle Delisle
 Just a Bad Book!!! September 20, 2009
This is a kid's book, so why not listen to a kid's views? Andrew Clements just seems to me like not a very good writer. What he does is he has all the interesting stuff at the very beginning, and then stays on one subject for the rest of the book. And, the views in the book are just plain stupid.
Just a Bad Book!!! September 20, 2009
This is a kid's book, so why not listen to a kid's views? Andrew Clements just seems to me like not a very good writer. What he does is he has all the interesting stuff at the very beginning, and then stays on one subject for the rest of the book. And, the views in the book are just plain stupid.
Brush up on THE REPORT CARD May 10, 2009
H. Bala (Carson - hey, we have an IKEA store! - CA USA)
Probably the very coolest thing about Andrew Clements is that he manages to impart lessons even as he entertains his readers. This is never more evident than in some of my favorite Clements books. Frindle demonstrates the adaptability of a word. The Landry News delves into the first amendment and the power of the press. The School Story chronicles the process in which a twelve-year-old girl's novel is published. And then there's THE REPORT CARD.
"Most kids never talk about it, but a lot of the time bad grades make them feel dumb, and almost all the time it's not true. And good grades can make other kids think that they're better, and that's not true either. And then all the kids start competing and comparing. The smart kids feel smarter and better and get all stuck-up, and the regular kids feel stupid and like there's no way to ever catch up. And the people who are supposed to help kids, the parents and the teachers, they don't. They just add more pressure and keep making up more and more tests."
Nora Rose Rowley said that. Nora is a fifth-grader and she is a genius. Except that no one knows it. All her life Nora had kept her smarts a secret from everyone, even from her family. Secretly she takes an online college-level astronomy course from M.I.T., corresponds with a primate expert at the Jane Goodall Institute, and she's taught herself Spanish simply by viewing Spanish television shows. So, yes, Nora is a genius.
Nora wants a normal life, just wants to fit in; she doesn't like "performing." But that's about to change. To help out her best friend Stephen, who grows ever more anxious with regards to his grades, Nora is about to challenge her middle school and the state's standardized testing curriculum. It begins with her deliberately earning Ds on her report card (and, to her frustration, a C for Spelling). But what Nora doesn't figure on is that her actions would lead to a student uprising.
I happen to think that Andrew Clements is genetically encoded to be unable to write horrid books. Add THE REPORT CARD to his pile of terrific stuff. As usual, once you crack open the first few pages and allow Clements to set up the premise, he's got you. I got hooked early on in THE REPORT CARD when I got to the part where baby Nora was able to gaze at the scattered pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and instantly know how they fit together. After that bit of mojo, I just had to find out what happened.
This book features Clements' customary excellence in storytelling. He introduces us to a winning protagonist, plonks her in an intriguing premise, and raises thought-provoking issues along the way. Having been a school teacher himself, Clements shows the educators in this book in a good light, especially Mrs. Byrne, the school librarian and the first person to whom Nora opens up. Even the prohibitive villain, the unlikeable school psychologist/guidance counselor Dr. Trindler, isn't really a bad guy. Children (or basically whosoever else reads this book) will get a kick out of the appealing central character. To echo another reviewer, I felt a bit sorry for Nora in the sense that she's so intelligent that it's a struggle for her to fit in with regular kids, and she can't help but feel estranged. There are lessons to pick up on in this book, be it the significance of persistence in one's studies, yet tempering one's anxieties with knowing that tests do not ultimately define the student. And then there's that old maxim about, above all else, being true to yourself. I have no objections with Nora's wanting to be treated like a normal person. Nora is a genius. She's also only a kid. For a time, let her be a kid. But that's just my opinion. Read THE REPORT CARD and see if you agree.
 Well done Andrew Clements! April 24, 2009
Andrew Clements is my favorite author! In his books he keeps the readers interested throughout the whole story. I am 11 years old and I can't stop reading Andrew Clements' books. All of his books are fantastic! About "The Report Card", I think it's one of his best books. Read this book! Happy reading!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 65
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