The Report Card

The Rowley family’s tradition of preparing a special report card dinner emphasizes the importance of grades in the children’s lives: “We always had great food on report card day. No meatloaf. No macaroni and cheese. No tuna-noodle casserole. Not on report card day” (30). Traditionally, meals shared around the table provide a scheduled, uninterrupted opportunity for family members to spend time together. By making the report card dinner extra special—with the finest table furnishings and dishes—Mom and Dad emphasize the importance of academic standing. At the end of the meal, the children read their report cards aloud to the entire family, which provides accountability for maintaining good grades (and evokes shame when grades drop). Even though Nora isn’t concerned about her own intelligence, the intense pressure prompts her to refuse to open her report card at the table.

Ann Rowley is a symbolic character representing Nora’s understanding of what most adults consider the ideal student and daughter: She’s athletic, participates in student government and multiple other extracurriculars, gets straight As, and has ambitions to attend Georgetown University. Ann loves being the center of attention, so she gladly welcomes praise and prestige for her hard work. Nora, however, depicts Ann’s attention-seeking nature from a sibling’s perspective: “She was six years older, so it was like we lived on different planets. Whenever we got anywhere near each other, Ann’s planet usually crushed my planet” (7).

Nonetheless, Nora doesn’t resent Ann because Nora doesn’t mind people perceiving her as normal by comparison. She reflects, “I’ve never been scared of Ann. That’s because I’ve always understood her. All Ann has ever wanted is for everybody to beg her to be the queen of the universe” (7). Nora has never felt intimidated by Ann, nor has she looked down her nose on her—even though Ann’s intelligence dulls compared to Nora’s genius. Ann represents the student who does everything perfectly, whose primary motive is to receive the praise and prestige that schools promise their highest-achieving students. Conversely, Nora chooses to set aside her intellectual gifts so that she can enjoy the company and companionship of friends.

Although Nora isn’t fully aware of many adults’ perspectives regarding the CMT and grades, Clements hints that some adults share Nora’s concerns. When Nora sees her teachers scrambling for their gradebooks—checking to see why they wouldn’t have alerted the Rowleys about her academic standing—she observes, “A bad grade for a kid is a bad grade for everybody” (46). The school and the state place incentives for teachers to prioritize letter grades, suggesting that the teachers are not the perpetrators of such rules, but are equally beholden to them as their students are to prove their abilities. Also, as Nora sits at a school computer, she opens her “favorite” website, which “[lists] nine ways the state should improve the CMT” (47). The existence of the site implies a broader conversation around the topic, though Nora doesn’t understand that even most of her own teachers feel the same way about standardized testing until later.

Nora shows her sense of humor when Mrs. Hackney asks to hear her perspective about the report card. She doesn’t have a ready answer because the meeting occurred sooner than she anticipated, so she fabricates a reason on the spot: “I’m not mad about my grades. I like Ds. [….] Ds have a pretty shape” (57). Her ridiculous answer throws the adults off-guard enough that they don’t know quite how to respond, and they let the subject hang. Her remark also makes her appear particularly un-genius-like, directing the adults farther from the truth. This moment informs the chapter’s title, “The Element of Surprise,” demonstrating the effectiveness of a little misdirection.