Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

On Saturday night my youngest and I found ourselves alone after dinner; my hubby drove my 15-year-old to the temple (and then took her and a friend to a region dance), my oldest was working, and my son was playing neighborhood football with friends. Since we had less than 50 pages left of the book we’ve been reading together, it seemed like the perfect time to finish it out, and so we snuggled up on the love seat and got to it. And it was fun–the ending offered plenty of excitement–but yowsers. By the time we hit the last 5-10 pages, I was desperate for ALL the water.

Gordon Korman’s The Superteacher Project was on our elementary school’s ‘Battle of the Books’ list this year, which is why my girlie picked it in the first place. I’ve read at least eight of Korman’s books by now, and while they’ve all been some level of entertaining, some have worked better than others; I was pleased to find that Superteacher is definitely one of his finer efforts. Korman’s plots and writing style are intentionally a bit farfetched and over the top, and that works exceptionally well for a book about a government project involving an experimental robot teacher in a middle school. (The principal and teachers know he’s a robot, but they can’t tell the students or their parents.) The school joker (he uses the term ‘rule wrecker’) dislikes him at first–how does Mr. Aidact keep figuring out that he’s behind this and that mischief?–but eventually grows intrigued. The PTA president’s determinedly ambitious daughter finds him to be an amazing coach, especially since she only joined the field hockey team to pad her resume (college applications?). And the king of detention sees his regular after school experience transformed unrecognizably. What happens, however, when the kids find out that Mr. Aidact’s a robot?

I shan’t give any more of the plot away, since it’s completely worth experiencing on your own, but I promise you it’s worth the ride. As improbable as the concept of Superteacher is, it’s improbable in a highly successful way; it should appeal to avid, regular, and reluctant readers alike. Give this one a shot when you get a chance!