The Report Card
| Author | Andrew Clements |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Brian Selznick |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's novel |
| Publisher | Aladdin Paperbacks |
Publication date | 2004 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 173 |
The Report Card is a children's novel by Andrew Clements, first published in 2004. The story is narrated by a 5th-grade girl, Nora Rose Rowley. Nora is secretly a genius but does not tell anyone for fear that she will be thought of as "different".
Plot summary
11-year-old Nora has been secretly hiding her extraordinary intelligence from her parents and teachers, and still trying her best to do badly in school to prove to herself as "nothing more than average." She shows no concern over it and gets grounded by her parents. However, after researching things on the Internet in the school's library, Nora accidentally exposes herself and is forced to tell the truth to the librarian, Mrs. Byrne, who is fascinated by her intelligence. Then, she meets Dr. Trindler, who gives her an IQ test, on which she receives a score of 188. After that, Nora unintentionally throws a tantrum before her classmates, her talents finally uncovered.
Things take a turn when her results get released. She has to face Ms. Hackney, the principal of Philbrook Elementary, to explain herself for scoring a zero on three tests. She explains that she dislikes the tests for being too knowledge-based, but her actions soon cause a great commotion in school when her best friend, Stephen, starts a campaign to call upon all students to follow her act and start a rebellion — to score zero in the next examination. In the end, after a school meeting, Stephen and Nora apologize on behalf of the involved students before the whole school. She rejects any offer from her parents and the school to promote her to middle school for higher education, as she prefers to stay normal.
Characters
Nora Rose Rowley: The main character of the story and secretive genius. Her appearance is described as being short with reddish-blond hair. Researching is her favorite hobby. She was so intelligent by kindergarten that she taught herself to understand Spanish by watching the Univision channel and also to read National Geographic. Nora loves astronomy, Latin, archaeology, and soccer. Her mother describes Nora as thoughtful, kind and caring. She has two siblings: Ann and Todd. Her best friend is Stephen, who has average intelligence but still gets better grades than Nora.
Stephen: Nora's best friend. His self-confidence is poor due to low grades. His favorite subject is English. He has never said one mean or angry thing. He got a higher grade than Nora in everything because Nora purposely had failed in everything.
Ms. Hackney: The principal at Nora's school. She is one of the people in the meeting to explain her low grades.
Mrs. Byrne: The librarian at Philbrook Elementary School. She was one of the first to find out about Nora's unusually high intelligence and played a large role in carrying out her plan.
Dr. Trindler: The guidance counselor.
Ms. Noyes: Nora's Social Studies and English teacher
Mrs. Zhang: Nora's science and math teacher
Mr. Rowley: Father
Mrs. Rowley: Mother
Todd: Nora's older brother
Ann: Nora's older sister