No one does school stories better than former teacher Andrew Clements. He knows the inner workings of schools, he writes for middle graders better than almost anyone, and his stories are usually effervescent delights that flow seamlessly along from start to perfect finish: not the way things do work, but the way they should.

Here he has decided to go for more realism. Her protest doesn't sweep the school, make the national news, or start a revolution. Rather than an unabashed triumph over the system of testing and grades, Nora actually accomplishes little besides being allowed to have some say in the direction of her life. Since he has so clearly stated the problems with this system, some readers may find the ending a bit disappointing, a rarity in Clements's novels. But it may get both kids and adults thinking about the subject and, since he has provided no template for real change, wondering for themselves how things could be made different.

From the Book:
"And that stuff about working up to my full potential -- who gets to say what my full potential is? An IQ test? Shouldn't I have something to say about what I want to accomplish? What if what I really want is to be normal? What if being normal is my big goal in life? Is there anything wrong with that? To be happy and read books and hang out with my friends and play soccer and listen to music? To grow up and get a job and read the newspapers and vote in elections and maybe get married someday? Would that be so terrible? I know that I'm different, and I hope I'll always be smart. But I don't want to get pushed ahead so that I'm always trying to do what someone else thinks a person with my intelligence ought to be doing. I want to use my intelligence the way I want to use it. And right now I want to be a normal kid."