The Unteachables

by Gordon Korman

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Unteachables tells the story of a misfit group of kids as they struggle their way through middle school with a teacher who’s struggling even more than them. As always, Gordon Korman is as exacting as he is hilarious.

“Any book that makes me both laugh out loud and tear up on the subway will always hold a special place in my heart. I found I unexpectedly learned a lot from the misfit group known as Unteachables, and their journey to connect with each other will resonate with every kid in a classroom today.” – Shannon DeVito, Book Buyer, New York, NY

Isolated from the rest of the student body in Room 117, the Unteachables are just that—an infamous group of middle school misfits with a colorful array of quirks, they are considered simply irredeemable. To add to the fun, their newly assigned teacher Mr. Kermit is the most burned-out teacher in all of Greenwich. Once a rising star, Mr. Kermit’s career was rocked by a cheating scandal some 26 years prior, and now the only thing he cares about is counting down the days until early retirement. When a gutsy vuvuzela heist rallies them all together, the Unteachables and Mr. Kermit might finally get their true shot at redemption after all.

Hilarious, insightful, and deeply heartfelt, with a rotating first person narrative that keeps things lively and completely entertaining, this true underdog story shows that a little kindness can ignite the hidden spark in all of us.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062563903
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	12/30/2019
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.80(d)
Lexile:	740L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Gordon Korman published his first book at age fourteen and since then has written more than one hundred middle grade and teen novels. Favorites include the New York Times bestselling Ungifted, Supergifted, The Superteacher Project, The Unteachables, Pop, Notorious, Unplugged, Operation Do-Over, Slugfest, and the Masterminds series. Gordon lives with his family on Long Island, New York. You can visit him online at gordonkorman.com.

Editorial Reviews

[An] underdog story that champions teamwork, kindness, and hidden sparks.” — Publishers Weekly

“Korman infuses such humanity into this tightly controlled ensemble piece and so deftly skewers school politics and classroom management eccentricities that middle-schoolers will recognize and appreciate both the absurdities and the frustrations.”   — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“This crowd-pleasing school story delivers the straightforward humor and warmth that Korman’s many fans expect.” — School Library Journal

From the Publisher

Praise for MASTERMINDS: “Masterminds takes readers on a wild ride with terrific humor, a surprising mystery, and characters you can’t help but root for.

Brandon Mull

Praise for MASTERMINDS: “It’s hard to express how much I loved Masterminds without spoiling it. Real characters that make you laugh, twists that genuinely surprise, a plot that reveals itself perfectly. Another instant classic by one of my favorite authors.

James Dashner

Praise for SUPERGIFTED:  “Managing a large cast of characters with ease, Korman creates a comedy of compounded errors leading to a public disaster and, strangely enough, a happy ending.

Booklist

Praise for UNGIFTED: “From its lovable-robot jacket art to its satisfying conclusion, this will please Korman’s fans and win him new ones.

ALA Booklist

Praise for MASTERMINDS: “[A] compelling, twisty mystery . . . [with] a truly gratifying payoff

Booklist (starred review)

Praise for MASTERMINDS: “A terrific page-turner. Full of unexpected twists and revelations. Buckle up.

James Patterson

Praise for MASTERMINDS: CRIMINAL DESTINY: “Cat-and-mouse chase scenes deliver thrills…Volume 3 can’t get here soon enough.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Korman infuses such humanity into this tightly controlled ensemble piece and so deftly skewers school politics and classroom management eccentricities that middle-schoolers will recognize and appreciate both the absurdities and the frustrations.”  

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Korman infuses such humanity into this tightly controlled ensemble piece and so deftly skewers school politics and classroom management eccentricities that middle-schoolers will recognize and appreciate both the absurdities and the frustrations.”  

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Praise for MASTERMINDS: “[A] compelling, twisty mystery . . . [with] a truly gratifying payoff

Booklist (starred review)

Praise for SUPERGIFTED:  “Another chortleworthy outing from Korman.

Stephanie Garber

2018-09-17

An isolated class of misfits and a teacher on the edge of retirement are paired together for a year of (supposed) failure.

Zachary Kermit, a 55-year-old teacher, has been haunted for the last 27 years by a student cheating scandal that has earned him the derision of his colleagues and killed his teaching spirit. So when he is assigned to teach the Self-Contained Special Eighth-Grade Class—a dumping ground for "the Unteachables," students with "behavior issues, learning problems, juvenile delinquents"—he is unfazed, as he is only a year away from early retirement. His relationship with his seven students—diverse in temperament, circumstance, and ability—will be one of "uncomfortable roommates" until June. But when Mr. Kermit unexpectedly stands up for a student, the kids of SCS-8 notice his sense of "justice and fairness." Mr. Kermit finds he may even care a little about them, and they start to care back in their own way, turning a corner and bringing along a few ghosts from Mr. Kermit's past. Writing in the alternating voices of Mr. Kermit, most of his students, and two administrators, Korman spins a narrative of redemption and belief in exceeding self-expectations. Naming conventions indicate characters of different ethnic backgrounds, but the book subscribes to a white default. The two students who do not narrate may be students of color, and their characterizations subtly—though arguably inadequately—demonstrate the danger of preconceptions.

Funny and endearing, though incomplete characterizations provoke questions. (Fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews