Line #51 Literature/Schooled


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/schooled_korman.png]]
2	''Schooled'' is a 2007 novel by Creator/GordonKorman.
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4	Capricorn "Cap" Anderson has grown up all his life in Garland, a hippie commune that has seen better days. He and his grandmother Rain continue to live a life of tranquility and simplicity, keeping the 60s alive.
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6	At least until Rain breaks her hip while picking plums.
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8	Young Cap is taken from his quiet life in Garland, and goes off to live with a social worker and her bratty daughter.
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10	Things don't improve for him much in Claverage (nicknamed "C Average") Middle School where his bizarre appearance and customs make him into an outcast among his peers. But despite his circumstances, Cap may turn the school on its ear.
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12	The novel was praised and received a Young Reader's Choice Award in 2010.
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14	[[SimilarlyNamedWorks No relation]] with the 2019 [[Series/{{Schooled}} spin-off]] from ''Series/TheGoldbergs''.
15	----
16	!!Tropes present in this work:
17	* ArrestedForHeroism: Cap is arrested when he takes command [[spoiler: of the schoolbus as the driver suffers a heart attack.]] He is confused because he did the right thing and at the time there wasn't much choice.
18	* BadassAdorable: Cap, in part for TurnTheOtherCheek and being a ChildProdigy.
19	* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Cap's hippie upbringing could be seen as this. Aside from his incredible patience, he is confused by things like banking, permits, and even putting your stuff securely in a locker.
20	* BrattyTeenageDaughter: Sophie, from her obsession with boys to her resentment of Cap, fits this trope to a T.
21	* BreakTheCutie: Zach and most of his posse tries to do this to Cap. Subverted in that Cap remains ThePollyanna.
22	* BrokenPedestal: Rain for Flora, who grew up with no survival skills because of Rain's teachings.
23	* CharacterDevelopment:
24	** Cap gradually adapts to school and comes to enjoy his time at "C Average".
25	** Sophie starts the story as a bratty DaddysGirl for her no-show father. Sophie gradually adapts to Cap and grows out of her blind admiration for her father.
26	** Hugh starts out as a meek loser, but grows into TheChessmaster over time.
27	** Rain herself had completely eschewed modern life [[spoiler: but realizes that she wasn't giving Cap any real world experience. She eventually sells the commune and moves in with Sophie]].
28	** Zach's friends come to respect and admire Cap through the story, and turn their backs on him.
29	* ChildProdigy: At 13, Cap is already a skilled driver, a math genius, and an expert of Tai-Chi.
30	* {{Commune}}: Cap and Rain are the only two remaining residents of Garland, a 60s hippie commune that's barely clinging to life in the present day.
31	* CoolBigSis: [[spoiler: Sophie]] sort of graduates to this role for Cap, especially after he secretly leaves a truly heartfelt gift to her without even really thinking about it.
32	* CoolOldLady: Rain is this, at least to Cap. Flora, however, thought she was tyrant and resents her for not teaching her about modern life.
33	* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Cap to the student body after [[spoiler: he rescues a school bus following the driver suffering a heart attack.]]
34	* DidntThinkThisThrough: Mr. Kasigi needing to go to a conference gives Cap a checkbook so he can manage the finances of the student fund without him.[[spoiler: In his rush, it never occurs to him the sheltered kid who doesn't fully know what a checkbook is won't have any financial responsibility. Something Flora Donnely calls him out on]].
35	* DuctTapeForEverything: A running gag in the book focuses on just how heavily the people of Garland relied on duct tape to fix basically everything in the community.
36	* EntertaininglyWrong: [[spoiler: After getting punched in the face by accident, Cap goes back to live at Garland with Rain. However, due to a combination of driving off in an Ambulance without saying a proper goodbye, the school dance getting canceled due to "unfortunate circumstances"(AKA Cap's lack of financial responsibility bankrupting the budget) and trying and failing to get in contact with him, everyone at school jumps to the conclusion Cap must have died and the school dance was canceled out of respect for him. Hugh and Zach are the only ones who realize that in all likelihood Cap screwed up the preparations somehow and his leaving is a coincidence]].
37	* EurekaMoment: [[spoiler: While taking her driving test, Sophie listens to the Beatles song "All You Need Is Love". Remembering that this was the engraving on her bracelet, she pieces together that Cap got her the bracelet]].
38	* GeniusDitz: Cap sheltered upbringing means he doesn't understand how a bank works, but he can operate motor vehicles including a bus at age 13, and is pretty good at math. He also doesn't really understand most social cues and spent most of his life unaware of most technology invented after the 1960s.
39	* GreenEyedMonster: [[spoiler: Hugh turns on Cap once he gains popularity]].
40	* HeelRealization: [[spoiler: Sophie when she realizes Cap bought her the bracelet]].
41	* HeroesFrontierStep: InUniverse, Cap hijacking the bus to save the bus driver turns him from the school pariah to the school hero.
42	* HippieName: The main character is a teenage boy named Capricorn who was raised on a near-defunct commune, though he usually goes by "Cap." His grandmother, who was one of the original hippies in the 60s and never gave up her tree-hugging New Age sensibilities is named Rain, and she named her daughter (Cap's mom) Flora. It's never specified if "Rain" was her given name or if she picked it to reflect her new lifestyle.
43	* HoistByHisOwnPetard:
44	** Zach's bullying of Cap is turned back on him [[spoiler: when everyone assumes Cap is dead after Darryl gave him a MegatonPunch. Soon he is on the receiving end of spitballs]].
45	** Principal Kasigi's took a hands-off approach to students, that is to say he ignored the bullying of less popular students. It ends up biting him when Cap is elected student president as part of a cruel prank, [[spoiler: and Cap being unaware of the rules of finance, bankrupts the school's activity fund because of his need to be charitable and his own gullibility and ignorance. After being forced to shut down the school dance, Kisagi realizes he should have paid more attention to his students]].
46	* HotGuysAreBastards: Zach's handsomeness is frequently noted in Naomi's POV chapters.
47	* InnocentlyInsensitive: The moment Hugh starts resenting Cap is the moment when Cap comments how good it is to be liked. Unintentionally rubbing his newfound popularity in [[ButtMonkey Hugh's]] face.
48	* {{Jerkass}}: Everyone except Cap and Flora, with a special mention to Zach, Sophie, and Hugh.
49	** JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Sophie herself starts showing this side when Cap helps her with driving. Darryl, one of the [[JerkJock Jerk Jocks]] who harassed him feels this way [[spoiler: after Cap is injured in a football stunt]].
50	** JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: [[spoiler: Hugh and Zach mourn Cap's death.. but they know the rumor is bullshit, and only perpetuated it to make themselves look good. It's Zigzagged in Hugh's case since he's aware of how dirty it is and is feeling guilty over it]].
51	* JerkassHasAPoint:
52	** Sophie doesn't come across pretty sympathetically when describing how the prank works to her mother, but has a point about how that's what the local social worker should know by now.
53	** Zach's a typical JerkJock but he's right in his guess that [[spoiler: the school dance was canceled because Cap screwed up in some way]].
54	* KindheartedSimpleton: Downplayed. Cap isn't ''dumb'' but has a lack of knowledge of the real world due to his upbringing. Still, he's one of the nicest characters in the book.
55	* LovableAlphaBitch: Naomi's friend Lena, ultimately turns into this. She's subservient to Zach for most of the book, a cheerleader, helps try to humiliate Cap, and is described as "willing to squeeze into size-zero jeans and apply makeup with a snow blower", maintaining a network of GossipyHens that is compared to a CIA intelligence-gathering team and being "kind of a bulldozer when it came to getting what she wanted". However, she is liked rather than feared by most of the other students, isn't bossy towards her own circle of friends, and TookALevelInKindness towards Cap fairly quickly [[spoiler: after he saves the bus drivers life]].
56	* MagneticHero: Cap averts this, with his odd appearance making him the butt of every joke. [[spoiler: Once he saves the bus driver with a stunt, suddenly everybody starts making tie dye shirts and practicing Tai Chi]].
57	* MoralEventHorizon: In-universe, the student body starts to believe that [[spoiler: Zach setting up Cap for a UriahGambit and appearing to get him killed]] was this and start treating him as an outcast.
58	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Zack's former sidekick Daryl gets two in quick succession in his only POV chapter [[spoiler: first when he realizes that he and the rest of the football team tackled Cap, and then when he sees Cap leaving in an ambulance]].
59	* NervesOfSteel: Cap's patience makes him incredibly unflappable. He can give Sophie a driving lesson without flipping out over her recklessness, [[spoiler: as well as save the bus driver]].
60	* NeverMyFault: Zach. One character literally calls him out on being this type of person. He also blamed Hugh for the bullying he had done, because Hugh wore a pocket protector and had nerdy hobbies.
61	* OnlySaneMan: Flora and to a certain extent, Hugh.
62	* PerspectiveFlip: The book is told from the first-person view of Cap and others.
63	* TheResenter: [[spoiler: Hugh and Zach]]. by the final act of the story.
64	* RightForTheWrongReasons: He's only saying it because he hates Cap and wants to make him look bad but Zach's guess that [[spoiler: Cap got the school dance canceled due to a screw-up is right on the money]].
65	* RuleOfThree: Cap is arrested three times for driving underage. Each time marks a significant turning point in the story.
66	* RuleOfEmpathy: Averted in Hugh's story arc. [[spoiler: Being a bully victim does not necessarily make someone empathetic to other kids getting bullied.]]
67	* RunningGag: A heart-warming one where Cap resolves to learn every student's name.
68	* SameStoryDifferentNames: This is the second Korman book (after ''Literature/DontCareHigh'') to involve a pair of students causing a clueless and socially awkward nonentity to become their class president of a CrapsackWorld school with an EmbarrassingNickname (Don Carney High School/Don’t Care High and Claverage Middle School/C Average Middle School), only for the school to be revitalized by the new President as he becomes a SchoolIdol. The main difference is that the nomination is a cruel prank by the villains in this book and a well-meaning plan to drag the school out of its slump in ''Literature/DontCareHigh''. Also, Cap takes his responsibilities as president a lot more seriously than TheChosenZero in the earlier book.
69	* SchoolIdol: By the end of the book, Cap has become the most popular kid in school without making the slightest conscious effort.
70	* SpringtimeForHitler: Zach electing Cap for student president
71	* TheStoic: Cap is this, much to Zach's frustration.
72	* StudentCouncilPresident: Averted, maybe even inverted. Zach and his friends only elect Cap to office because it is the tradition to elect the biggest misfit in the school. Interestingly enough, the office does give Cap control over spending for the prom. Once Cap starts gaining popularity, he plays this straighter.
73	* TeensAreMonsters: Every teenager seems all too eager to go along with bullying. Even Hugh is happy to use Cap as his shield rather than try and help him. Sophie starts out treating Cap with nothing but contempt, but she does soften on him after a few chapters.
74	* TooDumbToFool: Played with. Though he's not dumb, Cap's unfamiliarity with a public school setting is a major reason a lot of the pranks against him fail at upsetting him.
75	* TookALevelInKindness: Practically everyone in the school comes to appreciate and support Cap and even [[spoiler: Zack himself cracks just a little at the end, feeling some appreciation for Hugh, and being impressed with Cap's ability to remember everyones name]].
76	* {{Tsundere}}: Sophie becomes a non-romantic version of this for Cap as he starts growing on her. [[spoiler: She at one point mocks his hippie lifestyle, and then kisses him on the cheek. She again calls him "freakazoid" when telling him she is going to live with her]].
77	* TurnTheOtherCheek: Zach and his friends are simply unable to get a rise out of Cap.
78	* UriahGambit: Zach pulls this on Cap, making him dress up [[spoiler: in a rival football team's uniform right as the home team comes out to play, which earns Cap a MegatonPunch]]. This backfires rather horribly since as many people point out, Cap could have been KILLED and [[spoiler: it seems that he has died]].
79	* WhatTheHellHero: [[spoiler: At the end of the story, Flora calls out Rain for not teaching Cap about the real world. Rain initially brushes this off, but eventually realizes that Flora was right]].
80	* WhenYouComingHomeDad: Sophie's father is rarely around for her. Sophie eventually wises up to her dad being a no show [[spoiler: and its how she figures out that her dad didn't give her the bracelet]].
81	* WideEyedIdealist: Flora describes Cap as this when Kisagi calls her in a fury about [[spoiler: Cap having spent the school dance budget on multiple charities and Sophie's bracelet]]. He has the idealism of the sixties without the cynicism.
82	* WithFriendsLikeThese: Hugh is a testament to how being an outcast does ''not'' make you a nice guy. Despite being Cap's first friend, Hugh does nothing to warn him about Zach and his manipulation, just so he can avoid being bullied. [[spoiler: And when Cap gains popularity, Hugh sets him up to get brutally tackled out of jealousy. He then takes advantage of the rumor of Cap being dead just so he can take advantage of Cap's reputation by claiming to have stood by him]].

Context Literature / Schooled