Gifted

by Beth Evangelista

Sometimes brains aren't everything.

George R. Clark is gifted. Mentally, he's light-years ahead of his classmates. His parents worship him, and his teachers adore him. But socially, George is at the bottom of the curve. Most of his classmates avoid him-if he's lucky. Until the Bruise Brothers, the intellectually challenged members of the school football team, decide they want George to pass a test of their own design.

Only the fact that George's father is the school principal has saved him in the past. But his father isn't going on the eighth grade science field trip, and George has a feeling it's going to be open season on dorks. Suddenly thrown into a crash course on human nature, without his father to protect him, the most intellectually gifted kid in the eighth-grade might actually learn something before the end of the trip . . . if he survives it.

This witty novel provides a different perspective on bullying and the battle of brains versus brawn.

Genres: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 14, 2005

About the author

Beth Evangelista lives and writes in the Philadelphia area. Her favorite things in the world are reading, writing, watching submarine movies, eating Hershey bars, and being with her husband and three sons. Gifted is her first novel.

Reviews

[Harrison Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is 178 pages and is fiction. The author is Beth Evangelista and I read this book at 2/4/3.

This book is about a kid who is academically smart and doesn't have the most amount of friends. Some people called the "bruise Bro's" shock him by being nice to him at a campout. They even invite him to play football. George kinda ignores one of his friends from the group to impress this girl that he likes. George gets invited to a top secret plan to do a prank on the music teacher who is also assigned the cabin with them. George takes a bottle of mustard and sprays Mr. Z with the mustard but when he does the lights turn on and the bruise bro's trick him into doing so Mr. Z has full control over George. Well there is a hurricane and George forgot his backpack and goes to get it when he is attacked by the bruise bro's who take his glasses and george runs in to the middle of no where but has to find shelter and the light house is there. He gets hit by a wave and passes out in the staircase, but when he wakes up he hears somebody screaming for help. He swims to a pinned Sam (one of his old friends) and saves his life. After this happens he regrets what a bad friend he has been to his friends Anita and Sam.

I Rated this book a 4 out of 5 stars because i can kinda relate to what happened like by trying to impress a girl and ditching one of my friends. Also I think that the books text was a little to easy but other than that it was a good book and I recommend this book to people who don't like going to camps.

[syd · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I started reading this book I didn't expect for it to be near as good as is was. This book is amazing. The characters are unforgettable and SUPER relatable. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing but I could relate to just about every character in this book in one way or another. The messages in this book are something everybody, not just teens, need to hear. The ending is completely unexpected and the plot is great. Definitely a recommended read.

[Martin Carreon · Rating 1 out of 5]

L book

[Yash Asija · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever been bullied? Well in the realistic fiction book Gifted by Beth Evangelista George has, except he has been bullied to the extreme. George R. Clark is gifted. Mentally he is way ahead of his classmates and even his teachers. A group of bullies called the Bruise Brothers find him very annoying and will do anything just to make his day worse. The only thing stopping them is that George’s father is the principal of their school. However this week the whole 8th grade is going to a camp at Cape Rose and his father isn’t coming. Read the book to find out what happens. In this book George faces an internal conflict when he hear all the teachers talking about him behind his back saying how annoying he is. This makes him very subconscious and he debates if he really is that annoying. George faces an external conflict when hurricane Judith hits and the camp has to evacuate. I enjoyed reading this book because it was very thrilling and it could still possibly happen in real life. I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys reading funny and thrilling books.

[6cayleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

George Clark is very smart and does very well in school but socially George struggles. George is considered "weird" or a "geek." Usually when something goes wrong at school with other classmates his father protects him. But now George's class is going on a field trip to camp, and their is no one there to protect him from bullies. In this novel George must find a way to face the "popular" kids. But then something odd happens, he becomes friends with the "popular" kids. George choses to ditch his real friends and become friends with the "popular" kids. George must face the consequences of ditching his real friends and becoming "cool." I think that this book is not the best way of showing what kids go through at school, yet it was an okay book. I would not recommend this book because it is not one of my favorite books I have read.

[Theo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I liked reading it. it was a fun book, but it was also a little scary. you really got nervous at times, and wished that everything would even out. I liked receiving this book for Christmas. I HIGHLY (note the caps), HIGHLY (again, note the caps) recommend this book to people age 10 and up because you have to understand the nerd/jock relationship of middle school/high school to understand the conflict. I have been in both situations, and I can relate to both sides of the book. I was not at all like the jocks in the book. I really enjoyed this book, and I hope you do too, because you WILL read it. Right?

[Nance Wilcox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting book told by George Clark, a gifted 8th grader, who has one true friend to his name and a lot of bullies that don't like him. When he has to attend the summer camp with all the other 8th graders, he learns a lot about himself, the teachers and the others in his class. I liked that Evangelista had George relate his story so you could see his total misperceptions of what was happening around him; it also led the reader to conclude he was heading for disaster with every single choice -- you just didn't know what would happen! Interesting perspective!

[5bisca_gabrielle]

I thought that this book was very slow and boring. In the beginning I really had to re-read a lot of parts to completely understand it. This book had many different ways of kids being bullied so that was one thing I learned. Another thing I learned was different ways bullying can affect people. I would not recommend this book because it doesn't have a lot of good parts and was kind of boring. What I learned from this book?
I learned different ways bullying can effect people

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read- definitely adolescent reading level- I picked it off the Spencerport schools summer reading cart at the library. I read it because I taught gifted kids for 2 years and I thought it might appeal to the nerd in me, but overall it was not great- very extreme plot in the end and almost predictable. But, as an adult, I am not the target audience so maybe teen/preteens would enjoy it.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I expected.
A little slow to start. I skimmed most of the middle but got the gist.
Can't really think of much to say other than it did not grab me to the point that I wanted to keep reading. Had a natural disaster twist I did not see coming. I might still recommend to folks who like adventure and anti bullying books.

[Penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute coming of age book that centers around a boy who is gifted academically. He has one friend and a gang of boys that harass him. He has to go to camp with all of them and then his learning begins. Good afternoon read!

[Isaiah Vargas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was great because it showed great character development throughout the story, especially with Mr. Zimmerman. It was also was great it showed how being yourself can sometimes be the answer to your problems.

[Ariel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okapi Reading: Grade 4.9

I agree with reading level, good for shared/guided or independent reading.

[Landon Beeson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute story. It was a quick read and I thought it was pretty fun. The end was predictable, but it teaches a good lesson about friendship. Good for intermediate, young adult readers.

[Saif · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ok

[Kathy]

Five copies

[Brandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Still trying to find a decent anti-bullying book for 8th grade. This sure isn't it. A main character I want to punch = not a good choice for the anti-bullying message.

[Liza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, quick, predictable--but a really sarcastic and funny protagonist which I enjoyed.

[Maya Zatcalo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a pretty funny book i liked all the things that made you laugh i read this while my mom had a 3 hour hair appointment i reccomend it it has a good literature sense

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3.5 stars.

[Allison Armstrong · Rating 3 out of 5]

George R Clark is a gifted brat in the beginning of the book and his dad is the principal of his school. George's voice is unique and it is told from his point of view.

[Kathleen Brunnett · Rating 2 out of 5]

YA - even though this book centers around 8th graders, more of a read for 6th graders. Not the most engaging, but solid lesson at the end

[Josie M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall an enjoyable read.
• I liked the writing.
•The story was fun.
•George started to develop pretty late in the book. I wish he would have started developing sooner.(In my opinion.)

[Isabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the best books I've read in a while. I loved the writing style, and the last 50 pages were so intriguing. I'll definitely be looking for some more if Evangelista's works.

[Jenni Elwer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was a nice easy read if that is what r looking for. She did a good job of breaking it up in many chapters so if u get frequently interrupted(as I often do) you can still follow the book

[Morgan Echtenkamp · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't get into this book at all. I didn't finish it. Maybe it was just me...