The Unteachables
By: Gordon Korman / Narrated By: Sarah Beth Goer, Oliver Wyman, Josh Hurley, Tristan Morris, Chris Gebauer, Sean Welsh Brown, Pete Larkin, Fred Berman, Jennifer Nittoso
Length: 6 hrs
Perfect narration with a lovingly crafted story makes this one an absolute charmer. Bad Day? Listen to this…
Seriously. I’m gonna start with stuff that’ll make it sound as tho’ I didn’t like this, as tho’ you wouldn’t either.
Every misfit trope is tucked into the class of Unteachables who are stuck, aaaaallll day long, in Room 117. A teacher who can’t give less of a toot, hanging in until he can Time Out for early retirement, p’raps learning a lesson or two along the way. Former bad boy now grown and wishing to do good, maybe? A teacher near Room 117 who’s so young that she’s still starry-eyed and embraces Expectations. A principal with a heart o’ gold who butts heads with the most dastardly Superintendent, like, EVER.
See? I mean, author Gordon Korman even threw in a Class Pet who seems to be the only person (Animals are people too! they’re just not human…!) who trusts and adores the kid in the class who has anger management/trust issues.
So I shoulda been rolling m’ eyes, thinking about how The Unteachables was just another “The Breakfast Club” only for a younger audience. Because, dude! That danged movie popped into my head, like, a lot.
The thing, however?
This turned out to be everything THAT movie wanted to be. This has all the misfit characters you could possibly craft -BUT- they’re absolutely un-freaking-believably wonderful.
In other words? This little audiobook is simply a gem. It almost goes overboard on the whole: Having Oooodles of Heart thing.
Mr. Kermit is burnt out. A cheating scandal yeeeeears ago has never been forgotten, and he was so terribly abused by the Press, by faculty and Superintendent, each of them having reeeeally LONG memories, that he’s done, finished, feeling teaching is kaput for him, that, really? All the man wants to do is make it to June so that he can retire, get his pension. But the Superintendent, who is still sore-peeved about that scandal, has other ideas: He wants to get rid of Mr. Kermit, does NOT want Kermit getting any sort of pension, is hellbent on having any excuse to fire him With Cause. And so, Mr. Kermit is chucked over to Room 117 to deal with all the kids nobody else can stand.
No skin off Mr. Kermit’s nose; he’ll just spend every single day handing out worksheets he knows nobody will work on, all whilst he guzzles coffee from the staff room, and while he works on the daily crossword puzzle. He does not, however, realize that his students are taking note of EVERYthing he does and says.
So when The Unteachables get the short shrift, when unfair things happen to them, and Mr. Kermit sticks up for them? Whazza?!? Is he actually a kinda sorta decent guy? And a particular incident where he stands up for an ex-football player? When he fights for the class to be part of Spirit Week? I mean, holy heck! They start feeling, what the hay? As tho’ they’re rather liking him, respecting him, and they’re willing to put those feelings into actions… p’raps with disastrous consequences, yeh, but is Mr. Kermit “waking up”?
And so it goes with just lovely Lovely LOVELY story-crafting, incredibly well-fleshed out characters, with every single danged character having their own character arcs (Seriously! In just 6-hours?!). Everyone has their dreams, their regrets, their shame, their despair. Add to that some ridiculously AWEsome shenanigans that are supremely chucklesome? And lemme tell ya, those 6-hours fleeeew past, and it was a sad sad thing to find m’self at the end, and it was a terrific end.
Now the stellar cast of narrators. Each one inhabited their characters with so much heart, conveying the wonderful writing, kicking it up, or taking it down a notch as the scenes unfolded. I’m gonna give a shoutout to Oliver Wyman tho’ cuz he perfectly captured a burnt out man, one who’s just fine eating mustard on white bread sandwiches (Go to the store? Nah, takes too much energy, requires motivation, just ain’t worth it, what is?). Wyman owned Mr. Kermit from the get-go, and let’s face it: I’m just an Oliver Wyman fan because I’ve yet to hear him muff up any audiobook; nope, he’s a solid, a great narrator.
Come for the story of misfits needing the love and support that only a grownup version of themselves can provide. So much fun.
Just so much fun, and oh what Heart!!!
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.