Schooled

Schooled
by Paul Langan
Realistic Fiction
Townsend Press, 2009

Summary: The Bluford Series is a recently published set of books that deals with everyday situations that adolescent teenagers deal with. The setting is primarily Bluford High School. In Schooled, the main character Lionel Shephard is a struggling reader. His dream is to play basketball for the NBA, but obstacles of school, family, and friendship stand in his way. His teachers threaten to fail him because of his poor work habits and grades, his father thinks playing basketball is unrealistic, and his friend, Jamar uses peer pressure to convince him to drop out of school and join him working at the local car wash where he won’t have to answer to anyone. After several twists and turns, and with the help of his teachers and father, Lionel realizes that if he is going to achieve his goal of being an NBA superstar, he will have to work hard and stay in school. This is a high interest/low readability book for adolescent readers that definitely gets their attention and keeps it to the end. The author’s inclusion of the father as the role model and supporting character are just what many of our male adolescent readers need.

Themes:Perseverance, Courage to deal with Peer Pressure, Family, Overcoming difficult challenges

Rationale for Use:High interest low readability, realistic adolescent characters and situations, teaches about peer pressure and perseverance

Content Area Connections:Citizenship Skills dealing with relationships between peers and family members

Possible Problems or Concerns:Mature content: drug reference to use of marijuana, violence: fighting

~Heather Fanja