Read Saving Mr. Terupt free for 7 days. £7.99/month after - less than a paperback.
Rob Buyea's Saving Mr. Terupt is a school story for 11 year olds about a class starting junior high without the teacher they loved.
The old gang from Mr. Terupt's class are going into seventh grade. There's a new building to survive, with high schoolers in the same corridors (and lockers that won't open). The only person who isn't there is Mr. T.
You get the year from all of them in turns. Peter can't stay out of trouble. Jeffrey tries very hard to. Jessica writes everything down in the leather journal Mr. Terupt gave her, and Luke keeps a survival guide for seventh grade.
It's a busy start. Peter has three detentions before his first English lesson, after crashing into the new principal and a very hot cup of coffee. Lexie wakes up on day one with a spot she's sure has ruined her life. Anna's locker won't budge until Jeffrey tries it, and then she goes pink.
Who else remembers feeling like the smallest fish in a much bigger pond? Luke says he feels like a gazelle that's lost its herd.
It's funny and very warm. These kids really do stick together. It's lovely watching Peter and Jeffrey stand up for the girls when a group of older boys start calling names.
It's worth being clear about where this one sits, though. It reads at the very top of the shelf, or a little beyond it. The girls' summer shopping trip ends in a lingerie shop buying their first bras, with push-up bras on the mannequins. Periods and spots get a mention. There's an epic wedgie at wrestling camp, a naked dash down a dorm corridor, and older boys calling the girls fat and ugly. The language is mild, but it's there.
None of it is crude. It's the real, awkward stuff of growing up, and for a child who's already curious about all that it could feel reassuringly honest. For a more sensitive reader, you might want to wait a while.
If they love hearing one school year from lots of voices, try The Perfect Score by the same author. A whole class take turns telling their sixth-grade year, and one of them writes it all up as legal briefs.
A library hand-picked by an English teacher, delivered through a calm, ad-free app. If your child already loves reading, we keep up.
7-day free trial. Then £7.99/month.
