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Ungifted

3.87 of 5 stars 3.87 · rating details · 1,096 ratings · 242 reviews

The word gifted has never been applied to a kid like Donovan Curtis. It's usually more like Don't try this at home. So when the troublemaker pulls a major prank at his middle school, he thinks he's finally gone too far. But thanks to a mix-up by one of the administrators, instead of getting in trouble, Donovan is sent to the Academy of Scholastic Distinction (ASD), a speci...more

Hardcover, 288 pages

Published August 21st 2012 by Balzer + Bray

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Aug 26, 2012 Brandy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, boy-books, bullies, library, for-work, realistic, teen, parents_exist

When Donovan hit the Atlas statue with a tree branch, he really just meant it to make a loud, echoey clang. He had no way of knowing that the 400-pound-globe on Atlas's shoulders was held on with one single rusty bolt. Donovan didn't mean to send the ball careening down the hill, through the glass doors, and across the gym floor. So when a disciplinary screw-up sends him to the Academy for Scholastic Distinction, he didn't really mean for that to happen, either--but it's a great place to hide ou...more

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Aug 15, 2012 TheBookSmugglers rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mg

This is going to be a review in two parts.

Part the First: In Which I Talk About the Plot, Characters and General Thoughts About Ungifted

If Donovan Curtis has one gift, it is his gift for troublemaking. With his poor impulse control and his recklessness, chaos follows him wherever he goes. After a particularly stupid prank with its costly and dangerous result, he thinks he has gone too far. But instead of being punished for it, an error by his school’s administrator sends him to the Academy of Sc...more

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Jun 08, 2012 Richie Partington rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Richie's Picks: UNGIFTED by Gordon Korman, Balzer+ Bray, September 2012, 288p., ISBN: 978-0-06-174266-8

"You may ask yourself, 'Well, how did I get here?'"
-- Talking Heads, "Once in a Lifetime"

Donovan Curtis, IQ: 112:

"Nussbaum noticed my zombielike concentration. 'Dude, what are you doing?'
"I didn't answer, and he didn't really expect me to. He knew me. They both did.
"I cocked back the branch, and unloaded a home run swing. The impact vibrated up through my arms to my brain stem, and into every c...more

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May 15, 2013 Jaina rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is Gordon Korman at his best. It's also not very old, so that gives me hope for his future books. I hate it when an author kind of slowly slides down in quality until you go from great books to reading mud, you know? But this is definitely not the case with Gordon Korman. He's at the top of his game in Ungifted, and I love it!

Donovan is not gifted. At all. He's average in every sense of the word - but he does get in trouble more than the average person. He has what could almost be some...more This book is Gordon Korman at his best. It's also not very old, so that gives me hope for his future books. I hate it when an author kind of slowly slides down in quality until you go from great books to reading mud, you know? But this is definitely not the case with Gordon Korman. He's at the top of his game in Ungifted, and I love it!

Donovan is not gifted. At all. He's average in every sense of the word - but he does get in trouble more than the average person. He has what could almost be some form of ADHD or something, where once he thinks of an idea he just has to try it - no matter the conseqences. So it's business like usual when Donovan grabs a stick and whacks it across the giant behind of a large metal statue of Atlas (the guy, not the map) holding up the world. When things get a little out of hand, however, is when the world literally falls out of Atlas' hands. The world portion of the statue falls off, rolls down the hill, and crashes into a mega-expensive sports building full of screaming sports fans. No one is hurt, but Donovan's in trouble.
But wait. Y'see, the superintendant of the school made a mistake. He wrote Donovan's name on the paper with kids who go to the special school for gifted kids down the road. That's right, Donovan didn't get expelled - he got promoted. He decides to stick it out with the geniuses to save his parents from footing the bill for the gym, and that's when he starts to realize that those geeks and nerds are very cool in their own way - they just need a little push in the right direction from someone who doesn't spend all his time stressing about grades or some new science concept. But this uneasy answer won't last forever, and Donovan knows it's only a matter of time before the super-intendant finds him.

This book is flat out hilarious. That's the first thing I'll say. Donovan is a hoot, and everyone around him, from the serious genius girl who can't think about anything but getting into a good college, to the freakishly smart boy who wishes he were normal and didn't have to go to the smart kid school (and so tries desperately to flunk, a running punch-line throughout the book) - and who discovers the secrets of YouTube and is suddenly addicted.
The book is told alternating views between classmates at the Academy (the gifted school), the teachers, the super-intendant, Donovan himself, and Donovan's also funny (and highly pregnant) sister. It is very cool reading how everyone thinks about Donovan and sees him, which is somehow very different from how he sees himself in certain ways.

There is a reference throughout the book to an ancestor who survived the sinking of the Titanic, which for me (a tried-and-true Titaniac) was kind of a cool little tie-in to actual history. Also, for those who don't know Gordon Korman's works, he also wrote the Titanic trilogy and I find he fits in little references to the Titanic in many of his books. Got half an hour to kill? Ask me a question about the Titanic. Or books that even use the word titanic (i.e. "He took a titanic leap"). I probably know a little too much on the subject than it is really possibly to classify under "passing interest."

Parents, don't worry that this book might be inappropriate for your children. Katie (Donovan's sister)'s husband is stationed over-seas in the military, and rather than being anything bad her pregnancy is more of a running gag and something that comes in very handy when the Academy students realize they haven't taken "sex ed" yet - what's better education in that area than studying an actual child in vitro? Nothing inappropriate, and it's actually extremely sweet.

This book is awesome, and I have given it as a gift to a friend who loves Wendy Mass books (who said she loves it). It is a great, great book and even if it might be a little tilted when it comes to what smart kids are like, so what? I'm a smart kid (though no Noah), and I don't mind. You come into the story knowing it's not really the way life is, and it's the story (not the "message") that is the reason you should read it.(less)

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Apr 22, 2013 Tara Carpenter rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens

I'm trying to read some of the more recent books from one of my favorite authors. I love Korman's early books (out of print), which I recently found out were published starting when he was 14! Amazing! And he is puting out plenty in the last 10 years or so too, but I am not as taken by them as I am of the earlier books. I don't know if it's because I am no longer in my teens, or that Korman doesn't quite capture the character of teen boys now that he isn't one. He is still good though, and I cer...more

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Mar 27, 2013 Jessie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

This book was a fun read. I smiled and laughed through many of the parts. The robot on the front pulled me to the book as well as the title, since I believe that I am ordinary and ungifted too. **stop for spoilers*** A boy who gets into trouble often with his friends ends up in a school that is only for gifted students. He teaches them You Tube, and how to drive their robot. He is very good with the controls since they are much like his x-box. These gifted students need to see a normal person. I...more

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Mar 25, 2013 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: schoolage, schoolage-boy, schoolage-friendship, schoolage-realistic, schoolage-school, schoolage-social-culture, tween, tween-boy, tween-family, tween-realistic, tween-school, tween-social-cultural, tween-friends, tween-robots

When perpetual trouble maker and underachiever Donovan Curtis achieves his greatest screw-up ever, his name is accidentally placed on the gifted list instead of the lifetime detention list. As Donovan attempts to fit in to his new school to prevent detection by the extremely irate superintendent, he slowly comes to discover more in common with his new classmates than he ever anticipated, and they, in turn, come to value his uniquely "normal" perspective. This plot device will be familiar to the...more

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Mar 21, 2013 Garrett W. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

280 pages

In the book Ungifted some crazy things happen. It all starts with this out of the ordinary kid named Donavan Curtis. He is the main character in this story and he is what you consider a delinquent. Donavan was in detention and his friends the Dannials came to bale him out. Donavan escaped but he made a decision that would change the course of the story. Donavan goes to a school named Hardcastle. On a hill that overlooks the Hardcastle gym stands a statue of Atlas. Donavan decides to ta...more

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Mar 21, 2013 Karin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: funny, borrowed-from-the-library, juvenile-fiction, tween, young-adult-fiction, books-for-boys, friendship, middle-school, realistic, robots, intellige

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Donovan Curtis is sent to the Academy of Scholastic Distinction by mistake after he’s caught by the Superintendent for destroying school property. While Donovan is not gifted, he’s smart enough to know that he’d better hide out there as long as he can or he’s going to be in huge trouble with both his family AND the Superintendent. For awhile, Donovan’s teachers try to give him the benefit of the doubt, but it soon becomes obvious that Donovan isn’t gifted in any academic area. But his social ski...more

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Feb 21, 2013 Aubrey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ungifted
By: Gordon Korman
Pages 288
Realistic Fiction

Donovan Curtis is a big time trouble-maker. He’s used to getting in trouble. When he destroys the school’s gym, Dr. Schultz, the superintendent, has had enough. Once Dr. Schultz accidentally puts the paper with Donavon’s name on it into the pile of gifted papers, Donovan’s world changes. He is sent to the Gifted Academy. He is suddenly exposed to a new world of brainiacs and geniuses. Donovan knew that he never took any of the tests to get in a...more Ungifted
By: Gordon Korman
Pages 288
Realistic Fiction

Donovan Curtis is a big time trouble-maker. He’s used to getting in trouble. When he destroys the school’s gym, Dr. Schultz, the superintendent, has had enough. Once Dr. Schultz accidentally puts the paper with Donavon’s name on it into the pile of gifted papers, Donovan’s world changes. He is sent to the Gifted Academy. He is suddenly exposed to a new world of brainiacs and geniuses. Donovan knew that he never took any of the tests to get in and that he must have been sent by accident. He’s pretty sure he knows why. Donovan realizes that it's the last place that Dr. Schulz would look for him. He stays there, trying to fit in, and at the same time hiding from Dr. Schultz. Slowly, he starts to make friends and become part of the school by helping with the robotics program. Donovan shows the kids the world outside of the gifted bubble that they all have been living in. Eventually he is accepted as one of them, about the time Dr. Schulz finds him. Donovan was moved back to his old school and had to do community service for his punishment, but at least he made some new friends.

I really liked this book. I like the way each chapter was a new person’s point of view. Seeing how every one felt about certain situations really helped me get a good grasp of what was really going on. My favorite character was Chloe, who really liked Donovan, mostly because he was normal. Chloe stood up for him when everyone was against him. She also really tried to understand Donovan and what he was going through. She also tried to help him with his school and with fitting in. I think that the character Katie was also one of my favorites because she was going through so much with a baby on the way and her husband in Afghanistan/ She took the time to help Donovan help his classmates and when Donovan got kicked out she stood up for him. Katie was always trying to be helpful. Her feeling’s changed throughout the story because in the beginning she wanted nothing to do with the gifted kids or Donovan but in the end she learned to love them. I really like the plot and the way this story was told. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a good book that they won’t want to put down.(less)

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Feb 19, 2013 Simone rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Gifted kids (and adults)

Meet Donovan Curtis, trouble-maker extraordinaire. But when he accidently destroys the high-school gym, Dr. Schultz, the superintendent, has had enough.
But then, Donovan is sent to the Gifted Academy. He is suddenly exposed to a who new world of brainiacs and geniuses. Donovan knew that something was wrong. He never took any of the tests to get in must have been sent here by accident. But then he realizes that it's the last place the superintendent would look for him! He stays there, trying to...more

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Feb 18, 2013 BAYA Librarian rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Korman, Gordon. Ungifted. Balzer+Bray. 2012. 280pp. ISBN: 978-0-06-174266-8. $16.99 MS ***

Donovan Curtis is your typical middle-school boy screwup- he just can’t resist giving in to his impulses, which lands him in trouble over and over again, especially when egged on by his friends, the Daniels (two boys with the same first name.) His latest mishap has (inadvertently) destroyed the gym and landed him in a world of trouble. But instead of his name ending up on the PERMANENT DETENTION FOR LIFE li...more

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Feb 07, 2013 Barbara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: animals, bullies, community, families, gifted, multiple-narrators, ncbla2013, new-addition, pregnancy, school, self-esteem, war, teachers

Howard Gardner was right, of course, when he proposed that there are many different types of intelligences that often can't be measured by the tests typically used to identify gifted kids. In this case, Donovan Curtis is clearly not gifted academically, but he has the rare gift of being able to pull others together, and when he mistakenly lands in the Academy of Scholastic Distinction, he doesn't fit at all. But there's something about Donovan that draws his classmates, reluctantly, closer to hi...more

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Jan 30, 2013 Ubalstecha rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-for-reluctant-readers-boys, books-roberta-bondar-needs-to-buy-n, middle-school-boys-fiction, middle-school-girls-ficiton

Donovan Curtis has never been called gifted. Trouble maker, calamity, rapskallion maybe, but no one would ever call him smart. But after a disaster of epic proportions, involving Atlas's globe and the gym doors in the middle of a basketball game, Donovan somehow ends up transfered to the Academy for Scholastic Distinction, a school for extremely smart students.

Donovan sticks out like a sore thumb. He's failing all his classes, but everyone believes that he will show what he is truly good at soon...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Cornmaven rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: middle-school

"The test! It was as if they believed the test was an infallible superbeing that had descended to earth on a great space ark surrounded by thunderbolts of perfection."

Teachers ought to rejoice at that passage, because Korman has crafted an extremely funny and thought provoking indictment of education today, including the creation of have and have not groups and the inability to see learning and life as a process.

Lots of irony in this novel - Donovan Curtis, shuffled to the gifted academy due to...more

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Dec 12, 2012 Kaela rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Korman is one of my "go to" tween/teen authors and this one didn't disappoint.
The set-up is: middle schooler Donovan is at the low end of the academic performance spectrum. And on the day of the BIG pep rally for a rivalry basketball game he, and his similarly delinquent friends "the Daniels", ditch the rally. Struck by a case of the morons, Donovan grabs a branch & takes a whack at a statue of Atlas' keister as the boys are leaving school grounds. Well the world is thrown off kilter litera...more

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Dec 07, 2012 Luce rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I know Mr. Gordon Korman has a fair number of books under his belt but Ungifted does not seem like one he tried especially hard on. While the shifting perspectives in this book was a good ploy, it didn't save the characterization of it's characters and the weakness of the plot.

All the characters have strong personalities that stand out but they are also stereotypical.

Noah is the Troubled Genius that doesn't want to bother, Abigail is the cutthroat Asian girl (her last name is Lee) who will Mak...more I know Mr. Gordon Korman has a fair number of books under his belt but Ungifted does not seem like one he tried especially hard on. While the shifting perspectives in this book was a good ploy, it didn't save the characterization of it's characters and the weakness of the plot.

All the characters have strong personalities that stand out but they are also stereotypical.

Noah is the Troubled Genius that doesn't want to bother, Abigail is the cutthroat Asian girl (her last name is Lee) who will Make It or Else, Chloe is the brainiac that wants to be ~Normal~, and Donovan is the Human Element to these poor lifeless souls. The adults fall under similar patterns with Katie being the Older Sister, Mr Osborne is the Fun Teacher, Ms Bevelaqua is the Ethical Teacher (who strangely records interviews with students during an investigation), and Dr Schultz is the older hapless superintendent.

There is also some trouble with the characters interacting in the book that never got you to feel the bonds between them. The writing just told you how they felt with very little effort put into why. It was either shortly explained with their genius level intellects or Donovan's "spontaneous human spirit" that just happened to inspire them into being human themselves.

The trope is a classic one. Knowledge = remoteness, lack of brains = fun times. Never shall the twain meet. Until they do.

And that's the plot. Donovan is a trouble maker who gets into trouble and gets out of it by a twist of fate. His penchant for not-thinking is exactly what his new always-thinking classmates needs and this gets him out of trouble ridiculously easily. The reasoning is throughout the story is more comical than believable, which I guess the story was going for. I would drop age group for intended audiences.

Furthermore there was a stench of classism that Mr Gordon Korman kept pointing out but never did anything about and if anything, made it worse. The public school and the gifted school obviously had different amounts of funding and this is very realistic in a capitalist society. Which is good and dandy, it's a fact of life in the real world. The problem was the portrayal of the students in each group. The gifted kids are shown in ways that are at least neutral to positive, as well as generally 'misunderstood'. The public school kids are shown to be vapid, semi-violent troublemakers, and generally unintelligent. I know that intelligence was supposed to be a key "characteristic" that separated the groups but it was frankly kind of insulting as a public school kid myself. In fact, MY public school had one of the best robotics programs in our region until recently (McKinley High School in Hawaii, look it up).

I could go into a long rant about how a decent amount of funding everywhere in public education could change things but I don't want to spend all night on this review. Plainly: Classism is the unjust belief that people of higher social/economic classes are superior, which is depicted in this text. Public school kids can be just as good as these 'gifted' kids and characterizing them like this is wrong to do. (less)

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Nov 01, 2012 Gail Gauthier rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Ungifted is the story of a run-of-the-mill kid who has a history of stumbling into disruptive rather than criminal trouble. After accidentally causing expensive damage to the middle school gym, he takes advantage of a paperwork error so he can hide out in the district's school for the academically gifted.

I found the basic premise for the book believable. Donovan had legitimate reasons for being concerned about the financial trouble he was going to make for his family if he was fingered for the...more

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Oct 17, 2012 Melanie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love Gordon Korman. I was introduced to Gordon Korman in grade five, with I Want to Go Home which instantly became, and still is, a favourite of mine, because it is the funniest book I have ever read. So understand that this review is biased. Ungifted was an excellent book. It really drew me in, it's the kind of book you might finish in one sitting. It was a little heartwarming, genuinely funny at parts, and plenty interesting. Donovan was great, an interesting and fun character, and I loved h...more

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Jun 12, 2012 Karen Yingling rated it 5 of 5 stars

Donovan is one of those kids with no impulse control. Hitting the statue of Atlas with a branch wouldn't have been that bad of an idea... if the one bolt holding the world on Atlas' shoulders hadn't given way, sending the 400 pound globe careening right through the glass doors of the gym and into the middle of a basketball game. While the superintendent is there. Donovan is used to being in trouble, so cooperates when the superintendent writes down his name, and waits for the fateful call that g...more Donovan is one of those kids with no impulse control. Hitting the statue of Atlas with a branch wouldn't have been that bad of an idea... if the one bolt holding the world on Atlas' shoulders hadn't given way, sending the 400 pound globe careening right through the glass doors of the gym and into the middle of a basketball game. While the superintendent is there. Donovan is used to being in trouble, so cooperates when the superintendent writes down his name, and waits for the fateful call that gets him in major trouble. It never comes, and a series of mistakes lands Donovan instead at the Academy for Scholastic Distinction, an able and talented magnet school that is far nicer than the regular middle school he had been attending. Realizing that this is the best place to avoid detection, Donovan tries to keep up with the school work, but it's hard. Even his classmates know that he's not gifted in the traditional academic success, although he brings a new view point to their projects. He names the robot they are building for a competition, and has sophisticated joy stick skills the others lack. When the students need credits for Human Growth and Development or face summer school, Donovan talks his heavily pregnant sister into being their "hands on experience". He introduces Noah, the class genius who is not interested in anything, to YouTube, which finally engages him in his classes. The teachers compare notes, however, and are not fooled. Donovan has to take the online, secure test again, and knows that he can't pass it. When he gets unauthorized help from an unknown classmate, he does, and is able to stay at the academy and compete in the robotics competition. But Donovan still struggles with impulse control, and his antics cause just as much hilarity as problems for him.
Strengths: Middle school students are often just like Donovan; they are not bad kids, but they make poor decisions. Korman is great at portraying these students to excellent effect. Even though Donovan feels out of place socially and academically, his resilience and ingenuity are heartening as well as fun to watch. An abundance of laugh-out-loud lines and comical situations makes this book about fitting in and working hard one that students will enjoy tremendously.
Weaknesses: The gifted students span the range of stereotypes-- skinny Noah, who is a math genius; awkward, lumber jack shirted Chloe, who has a small crush on Donovan; driven Abigail, who refuses to get anything lower than an A+. While these stereotypes are based in a lot of truth, it would have been interesting if Donovan had met a gifted student who had less impulse control than he did!(less)

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Nov 30, 2012 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children, family-story, humor, school-story

Donovan Curtis has always had impulse control issues, but never so badly as the night he whacked a statue of Atlas across his big bronze behind with a stick, thereby causing the 400 pound globe Atlas is holding to tumble from its rusted bolt and roll down the hill into a gym full of the entire middle school. The superintendant snags Donovan, but due to a complicated set of circumstances, Donovan's name accidentally ends up on the list of kids headed for the local gifted academy. For Donovan, it'...more

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Jan 01, 2013 Tari rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Korman stereotypes gifted kids and spec ed teachers throughout this book -- almost as though he had never met one. Fact: most gifted kids don't know they're gifted, and certainly don't know their IQ. Also fact: giftedness comes with a variety of benefits and challenges, and not all of them include tunnel vision, awkwardness, or the tendency to be sanctimoniously judgmental. Spec Ed teachers (and yes, gifted ed is Special Education)do not sit around wondering how a student got into the gifted sch...more

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Apr 07, 2013 Jackie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: school, robots, humor, gifted-children, realistic, multiple-voices, tween-fiction

When self-proclaimed screw-up Donovan Curtis screws up, yet again, by inadvertently demolishing the school's gym floor and busting up the glass doors in the entrance, he is sure he will be booted out of school. Much to his utter amazement, however, he is enrolled in the highly gifted school as a new student. How did this happen? Donovan has a sneaking suspicion, but his first and foremost plan is to stay out of the path of Dr. Schultz, the district superintendent. It may just be the result of a...more

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Apr 15, 2013 Linda Winkler rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: boy-book, juvenile

donovan is a trouble-maker who accidentally gets sent to the gifted school. he ends up enjoying the new school and the students enjoy having a "normal" kid around. the story idea is a good one but the writing is so lazy. the author doesn't treat his readers with respect and give them credit for being able to think above a preschool level. one example: when the family dog gets sick the family waits around thinking it might die instead of taking it to the vet--until someone tells them it's pregnan...more

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Nov 12, 2012 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, young-adult, humor, friendship, booktalks, family, middle-school, robots, pranks, geniuses, gifted, soldiers

Donovan Curtis has never been called gifted. If any phrase applied to Donovan, it would be "Don't try this at home." He's a major prankster and trouble-maker. One day, he hits a statue of Atlas and the giant metal globe on top of the statue rolls off, down the hill, and SMASHES through the glass doors of the gym and into the biggest basketball game of the year. AND the superintendent of the school district. Needless to say, Donnie's in big trouble, The superintendent takes down his name on a pie...more

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May 19, 2013 Ashley (yAdult Review) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, tbr-2013, blog

Originally posted at yAdult Review

So picture it, you’re the ‘trouble’ maker at school. You’re the one who gets caught doing the things no one should be caught doing. You end up doing a major prank that ends up with you getting caught by the Superintendent. Your luck, the Superintendent is overwhelmed and although he writes down your name, he writes it down on the wrong sheet of paper. This means instead of getting a phone call telling you that you’re in trouble, you get a letter in the mail stat...more Originally posted at yAdult Review

So picture it, you’re the ‘trouble’ maker at school. You’re the one who gets caught doing the things no one should be caught doing. You end up doing a major prank that ends up with you getting caught by the Superintendent. Your luck, the Superintendent is overwhelmed and although he writes down your name, he writes it down on the wrong sheet of paper. This means instead of getting a phone call telling you that you’re in trouble, you get a letter in the mail stating that you have been accepted into the Gifted Program in the school district.

This is exactly what happens to Donovan, told not only from his point of view, but various classmates and adults, we see how this shapes his world and the world of those around him. It is clear from the very beginning of the novel (and the school, ASD) that Donovan doesn’t belong in this school, but slowly his classmates actually work to save him, he has made the school better. Because he really is what they need.

Donovan’s experience is off to a rough start at the school when he goes into homeroom and begins to ruin the robot that they are making in robotics. I mean, it didn’t really need that arm did it? Spoiler: it did. However, he becomes a prize for the robotics team. Donovan has played video games long enough to know how to use a joystick and use it well. This of course is a hint to many of his classmates that “hey! Something isn’t ‘normal’ about this kid!” He also saves them from summer school by working with the school on saving the sex education program in unique way.

Donovan getting into the gifted school also brings his family together in a unique way that none of them ever saw coming and as an adult reading this book it was nice to see.

My one major pet peeve of the book was the characterization of the “nerds,” the gifted students. As one of those people who was in gifted classes not all “nerds” are like that, and while it worked well for this story, I would have been interested in seeing how this would have been handled without all of the stereotypes. However, still an enjoyable read.(less)

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Dec 27, 2012 Vernon Area Public Library rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: juvenile-fiction, humor

Donovan Curtis is a kid who manages to find trouble even when he isn’t looking for it. So when his latest prank lands him in the superintendent’s office, he’s pretty sure the consequences will be a suspension, or worse. Imagine his surprise when instead he receives notice that he’s been accepted into the gifted academy. Gifted is the last word anyone would use to describe Donovan! He knows it’s a mistake, but with the superintendent breathing down his neck it seems like the ideal place to hide o...more

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Nov 07, 2012 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

Donovan Curtis has always had difficulty with impulse control, and if there is some kind of trouble at Hardcastle Middle School, you can be sure that he is in the middle of it. His classmates voted him Most Likely to Wind Up in Jail two years in a row. When he breaks a school statue that causes massive damage to the school gym, he expects that he will be in major trouble with the school superintendent; however, just the opposite happens. Instead of being suspended or expelled, an administrative...more Donovan Curtis has always had difficulty with impulse control, and if there is some kind of trouble at Hardcastle Middle School, you can be sure that he is in the middle of it. His classmates voted him Most Likely to Wind Up in Jail two years in a row. When he breaks a school statue that causes massive damage to the school gym, he expects that he will be in major trouble with the school superintendent; however, just the opposite happens. Instead of being suspended or expelled, an administrative mix-up results in Donovan being sent to the Academy of Scholastic Distinction, a school for gifted students. Donovan Curtis, IQ 112, definitely does not belong at the Academy.

Donovan tries to fly under the radar at the Academy. He hopes that if no one notices the error, he will never be punished or have to pay for the damage he caused. He also does not want to disappoint his proud parents with the truth that he is not gifted. However, it does not take long for his classmates and teachers at the Academy to know that something is not right with Donovan’s placement. He works as hard as he can, but he is completely lost in his classes. As his teachers try to find what, if any, talents Donovan has, his classmates see the benefit of having an ordinary student at their school for extraordinary children. Donovan introduces his new friends to YouTube and class pranks. He also comes up with a solution when a few of his peers are faced with going to summer school because they are lacking a credit in a human development course. It doesn’t take long for the students at the Academy to become very attached to Donovan, and they will do anything, including cheating, to keep him at their school.

Gordan Korman has a gift for writing humorous novels for middle school boys, and Ungifted does not disappoint. This charming page-turner is perfect for reluctant readers in grades 5-8. Boys who have trouble with always being on their best behavior will relate to Donovan’s inability to resist mischief. His transformation from a troublemaker to thoughtful brother, son and friend is both believable and inspiring.

4 out of 5 stars
Grades 5 and up
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Apr 03, 2013 Kay Mcgriff rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Donovan Curtis reminds me of many of my students. He acts first and thinks later, if at all. His latest trouble starts when he is walking across the school grounds swinging a big stick. There in front of him is the statue of Atlas holding the world on his shoulders. What would you do? Donovan takes a whack with that stick right at Atlas’s butt. It is sticking out like an engraved invitation. What Donovan doesn’t know is that the single bolt holding the globe to Atlas is nearly rusted through. Th...more

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Oct 20, 2012 Heidi rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-books-blogged, 2012-favorites, 2012-middle-grade, great-teaching-books, middle-grade-contemporary

I found this book to be both amusing and touching, quite a feat for a middle grade book. Donovan is a very likeable kid who has a tendency to act first and think later, which gets him into trouble in the very first chapter. He follows one of his strange brainstorms and ends up in the district superintendent's office in major trouble. But thanks to a paperwork mishap he instead ends up at the school for gifted students. He and his classmates as well as the teachers quickly realize that while he h...more

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About Gordon Korman

Korman wrote his first book, "This Can't be Happening at Macdonald Hall", when he was 12 years old, for a coach who suddenly found himself teaching 7th grade English. He later took that episode and created a book out of it, as well, in "The Sixth Grade Nickname Game", wherein Mr. Huge was based on that 7th grade teacher.

Korman moved to New York City, where he studied film and film writing. While i...more

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