The Unteachables

By: Gordon Korman

NPMS teacher bookshelf paperback 279 pages

Published: 2019

Genre: YA realistic fiction

I was subbing and saw this book on the shelf. It looked interesting and I started to read it. I got into it so much that I borrowed it to finish at home!

Some of Korman's work is too silly for me, but this one actually felt as though it was more geared to me as a teacher than to a middle school reader. Mr. Kermit is a burned out teacher just hoping to hold on until he can retire. The "unteachables" are eighth graders who are not successful in school and are being warehoused until they can be passed on to the high school (with the exception of Kiana). I liked that the different chapters were told from different points of view.

Page 12 (Mr. Kermit): "The first day of school. 

I remember the excitement. New students to teach. New minds to fill with knowledge. New futures to shape.

The key word is remember. That was thirty years ago. I was so young - not much older than the kids, really. Being a teacher was more than a job. It was a calling, a mission. True, mission: impossible, but I didn't know that back then."

It is so discouraging to lose that optimism, that sense of purpose and passion in seeing teaching as a mission. It's hard to maintain it over the years.

Page 45 (Mr. Kermit): "If that poor kid tries to teach middle schoolers the way she ran her kindergarten classes, her students will have her throat open by Columbus Day. I should sit her down and explain a few things, but that would mean I care. Caring is where the trouble starts - hard experience taught me that. I didn't make it to the cusp of early retirement by caring."

 

His cynicism was so deep! I'm glad he taught next door to Miss Emma Fountain, the daughter of his long-ago fiancee. She was a little too "Pollyannaish," but she was the spark to get him going.

Page 61 (Kiana Roubini): "Anybody who could put out a trash can bonfire with a cup of coffee and never mention it must have ice water in his veins - even by LA standards."

Kiana was an excellent student who only anticipated living with her dad and stepmom for a short visit until she could go back with her mom in LA. Her stepmom was over busy with a sick baby, so Kiana was never officially registered at the school! She found her way to Mr. Kermit's room and became one of the Unteachables. She had a unique perspective and great observations.

Page 75 (Mr. Kermit): "This used to be my favorite part of the day - when the students haven't come yet to ruin it. It's usually downhill from there."

I wonder if middle schoolers reading this even consider the teacher's perspective. The calm and quiet of before school are precious.

Page 267 (Mr. Kermit): "I've never ruined anyone's life, but apparently it's almost as hard on the messer as it is on the messee."

He's referring to his long ago student Jake Terranova. I'm so glad they were finally able to reconcile. This book was delightful.

Louise - Kiana's stepmom

Chauncey - Louise's baby

Parker Elias - provisional license, drives grandma to senior center, dyslexic

Christina Vargas - principal who remembers what a good teacher Mr. Kermit was before the cheating scandal

Dr. Thaddeus - superintendent with a grudge who wants to fire Mr. Kermit

Aldo Braff - redhead with anger management issues

Mateo Hendrickson - characters, imagination, 

Barnstorm Anderson - athlete on crutches, sidelined in many ways

Elaine - she didn't get her own chapter! She was smarter (and less violent) than anyone realized.

Jake Terranova - cheated majorly on a test thirty years prior, now a well-known auto dealer