Because of Mr. Terupt

I picked this up because I witnessed a group of grade 6 students last September in the library. They didn’t know that I was watching them browse for books. One of them reverently pulled “Because of Mr. Terupt” off the spinner and whispered, “Hey guys...remember this?” The other students clustered around, nodded solemnly and smiled as they shared a private moment that I just knew was special. I wished, more than anything, that I’d had a video camera running to document that magical moment. I found out later by casual inquiry that their grade 5 teacher had read the book to her class and allowed them to discuss the book in groups. It was clearly one of their favourite memories from their previous grade so OF COURSE I needed to show more read the book for myself.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think Buyea captures the dynamics of the classroom perfectly and I could imagine each of the students as being clones of students I’ve taught. The book is perfectly paced, and lends itself to multiple opportunities for discussion without being preachy or phoney. I know it’s an older title but sometimes there are books that get talked about so much that I lose my urge to read it. I’m glad that I finally got to it. Well worth while!
I’m going to purchase the other two. I want my clsssroom to have all 3 books”. I think I’ll add it to my “books every kid needs to read list. It’s a classic show less

Seven fifth graders at Snow Hill School in Vermont learn a variety of life lessons, not necessarily from their textbooks, when they start the school year off with their new teacher. Short chapters are actually brief narratives by individual students and sectioned off by each month of the school year, beginning with September. From the students' distinct voices readers come to understand the different personalities and backgrounds that define them. Peter, the prankster; Danielle, who never stands up for herself; and Jessica, the new girl in town who hides behind her favorite books, are just a few of the characters who shape readers' vision of the classroom. As their narrative continues, readers realize that each child has a story that show more only begins in school; it's the problems and conflicts that make up their home lives that come full circle because of a prank that results in tragedy. Mr. Terupt is that one teacher who really understands them, who always seems to be on their side, and who teaches them a valuable lesson no matter how much some of them try to shut him out. If the school year is a series of events, then Mr. Terupt is the catalyst that starts the chain reaction. The characters are authentic and the short chapters, some less than a page, are skillfully arranged to keep readers moving headlong toward the satisfying conclusion.– show less

It's possible this review will be incredibly biased. As someone who has just finished her second year of teaching with a group of third graders who may have changed her life, am I over-identifying with every single aspect of this story? Possibly.

That said, this book made me cry.

The beginning seemed pretty uneventful - Mr. Terupt is a "rookie" teacher who takes on a class of fifth graders. I smiled at all of the patented "teacher moves" that permeate this character (this book was SO OBVIOUSLY written by somebody who has experience running a classroom!). I myself have tried the chain-link class reward system Mr. T utilizes. His use of project-based learning was fun to see - glad to know we teachers agree on what makes learning most show more effective - when its fun! But I digress. All in all, I enjoyed being able to identify strongly with this character in a sweet, light-hearted way through the kids. And the kids were great portrayals of characters you could find in any fifth grade class - I could certainly identify parts of a few students I've taught in fifth grade-going-on-sixth. Also, for me the disjointed character-switching really worked. It felt (perhaps unsurprisingly) like I was actually seeing things through the teacher's eyes - which makes sense since in my experience a huge chunk of teaching is trying to get inside each of your students' heads, to see what's going on and how you can navigate pathways to help them achieve something that day. So in the end the way the author switched narrators almost constantly felt really authentic to me.

And then came part two. Now, it wasn't the contrived accident that made me emotional. Up to that point, events in the novel were progressing as expected. Kids were being kids, who were opening up and growing (slowly) under a pretty great teacher. And then comes the sudden upheaval that changes everything. Standard stuff. It was what came after that upheaval that really got to me. As Mr. T really took a back seat, each kid shined in his or her own moment time and again, in a way that wasn't ridiculously obvious or overly moralized. It wasn't the tragedy that was the center of the story, but the seven students who were incredibly strong focal points. And that was how I was able to connect so deeply with the book - as each character changes, the ideas behind this story grow stronger and stronger - until, well, it's 6 o'clock in the morning and you have a tears on your face.

Again, it's probable that I am identifying so strongly with this book because of my own experiences. Still, even if this book doesn't make you feel the way that I did, the strong characterizations and shifting voices really makes it a quick but thought-provoking read! show less

I don't even know where to start! I am in love with this book. I have read it three times and with four classes. We just finished the sequel to this and it was so hard to say goodbye to the seven characters we came to know like members of our own class (Jessica, Anna, Danielle, Lexie, Peter, Luke and Jeffrey) and their amazing teacher Mr. Terupt. I can honestly say every single one of the 42 students I read it to this year loved it.

It is simply the story of seven average, every day fifth graders and their teacher as they embark on their school year. Just as they get to know and love their teacher, tragedy strikes and their lives are forever altered.

I think part of the appeal of this story is that there are seven narrators who tell the show more story from their perspective, and they are all different kids. Some are shy, some are funny, some are angry and some are mean. Just yesterday, when we finished the second book, we were sharing our thoughts and one of my boys said, "I liked that there was a perspective of someone who was a bully because there are bullies in a lot of books but we never get to really know why they act that way." I was so impressed! He was absolutely right, and this book does have that, which leads to a greater insight about why bullies may act as they do.

One line we had great conversations around was "Everyone has a story." We talked round and round about what that meant and how we had prejudged Alexia (though some students predicted she had something going on in her life that made her act like a bully) and how Jeffrey was so much more complex than we originally thought. We were saddened at the guilt that we knew Peter felt after the accident. So many great discussions have ensued because of this book.

In addition, amazing new relationships have come out of this book. I used the idea of the Collaborative Classroom (where Mr. Terupt's students visited a classroom with children who had disabilities). My students now visit our two classrooms that house students with disabilities. They come back from visiting with smiles on their faces and look forward to going every week. It's been rewarding and will continue all year long. In a few months we will team up with them to create inspirational bookmarks that will be sold to help raise money for Rob Buyea to visit our school. My students cannot wait to meet the author of this wonderful book in person! show less

A middle-grade story about a year in Mr. Terupt's fifth grade class, told in rotating points of view from seven of his students. The voices are distinct, and each child has their own problems they are dealing with as the year goes on. There's also a Big Event that Changes Everything and affects each of the students. They must figure out how to deal with it and what it means for them. The book does a good job dealing with heavy subjects for a young audience. I, however, liked the book better before the Big Event happened. I thought it was more rounded and interesting earlier, and while some really good moments came after it (and because of it), I thought the story got a little one-note and anti-climatic in the last hundred pages or so.

As a future teacher, this book really, really inspired me. I want to be a teacher like Mr. Terupt and I think that if the going ever gets tough with teaching, this would be a great book for me to reread to remind me why I want to give my life to teaching. All of the students within the class face their own hardships, making them all dynamic and believable. By the end of the book, the students learn to embrace the things that make them who they are, such as disability, loss, home life, heritage and religion, but they do not let these things be the only things that define them. This book really made me emotional and I think that it beautifully weaves so many powerful themes.

Narrated by Mike Chamberlain and Arielle DeLisle. Mr. Terupt is a new 5th grade teacher who comes to have a big impact on his students, especially after a horrible accident. The kids come off as far too self-aware in their emotional intelligence with lines such as "we chose to be invisible around Peter" and "if you don't know the reason (why something happens) how is it your fault?" And the moral of the story is: a bit too obvious! Chamberlain and DeLisle's voicework is appropriately young but at times it is hard to differentiate which character is speaking.